From the Editor - Silkroad Foundation

Transcription

Volume 4 Number 1
“The Bridge between Eastern and Western Cultures”
In This Issue
• Boris Il’ich Marshak (1933-2006)
Summer 2006
From the Editor
• Rock Art in the Altai of Mongolia
• The Origins of the Great Wall
• Report on the Tamir Excavation of
2005
• Chinese Lacquerware in Xiongnu
Graves
• Two Han Mirrors Found in the Tamir
Cemetery
• The Ethnicity of the Xiongnu
Confederacy
• Archaeology of the Mongolian
period
• An Interview with Dorjpagma
Navaan
• The Francke-Körber Collection in
Munich
Next Issue
A focus on Afghanistan and Bactria:
• Nicholas Sims-Williams on new
discoveries of Bactrian documents
• Richard Salomon and Stefan Baums
on new discoveries at Termez
• contributions by Thomas Barfield,
Zemarlayai Tarzi, François Louis,
and much more....
About
The Silk Road is a semi-annual publication of the Silkroad Foundation. The
Silk Road can also be viewed on-line
at <http://www. silkroadfoundation.
org>. Please feel free to contact us
with any questions or contributions.
Guidelines for contributors may be
found in Vol. 2, No. 1 (June 2004) on
the website.
The Silkroad Foundation
P.O. Box 2275
Saratoga, CA. 95070
Editor: Daniel C. Waugh
[email protected]
© 2006 Silkroad Foundation
© 2006 by authors of individual
articles and holders of copyright, as
specified, to individual images.
This year Mongolia celebrates the
800th anniversary of the kuriltai
which marked the founding of the
Mongolian Empire under its leader
newly designated as Chingis Khan.
Under Chingis and his successors
Mongolia in the 13th century was
for a time indeed at the ‘center of
the world.’ As students of Inner
Asian history know, at several
earlier times in its history too,
Mongolia had been the center of
nomadic polities which encompassed large portions of Inner Asia
and played a major role in the lives
of their nomadic and sedentary
neighbors. It is appropriate
therefore that we devote much of
this issue of The Silk Road to
Mongolia.
I feel fortunate to have spent
some six weeks in Mongolia last
summer, initially as a lecturer and
participant in the archaeological
expedition co-sponsored by the
Silkroad Foundation and the
Mongolian National University, and
then doing independent touring to
view petroglyphs in the Altai
Mountains of Mongolia’s far west.
This was my third and longest visit
there, one made the more
rewarding by my preparation in
recent years to introduce students
to Mongolian history. It is no
accident that the final course I
chose to teach before my recent
retirement was one devoted to
Mongolia, even though I hardly
qualify as a ‘specialist’ on its
history.
There are a great many reasons
to learn about Mongolia — its
present as well as its past. Rarely
these days do more than a few
weeks pass without the publication
of yet another news article
extolling the natural beauties of
the country, the warm hospitality
of its people, or the mixed
successes in facing the challenges
of economic and political transition
during the post-communist period.
In a previous number of The Silk
Road (Vol. 2, no. 1) Prof. Morris
Rossabi, who has spent so much
of his career enlightening us about
the country’s earlier history,
provided an eye-opening overview
of those challenges and the
disappoinments of the last decade
and a half, which he analyzes in
some detail in his most recent
book. His observations were
reinforced for me last year in
Bayan Ölgiy, a town of some
20,000 in Mongolia’s far west,
where what little manufacturing
there had been collapsed with the
end of socialist subsidies, and the
town was without electricity for
much of the day due to its inability
to pay its electric bill. Our visit to
the local museum was a curious
post-socialist experience of
viewing displays still glorifying
heroic workers and revolutionaries,
which we could see only because
we had brought our flashlights.
Should all that sound depressing, on the contrary, seeing
how people are imaginatively
adapting to the challenges of
transition is in fact inspiring. One
comes away with an even greater
appreciation of the ways in which
traditional Mongolian life and
values retain their vitality. For in
fact the adaptations worked out
millennia ago to live well in an
often harsh natural environment
have proved to be remarkably
suited to sustaining the cultures
out of which emerged political
leaders whose organizational
As David Purcell and Kimberly
Spurr note in their excavation
report below, the Orkhon River
valley in north central Mongolia is
an area of particular historical
interest, since it formed the
heartland of empires from the
Xiongnu down through the Mongol.
One may go to the Orkhon with at
least a vague awareness of its
importance — after all, many know
that is where Karakorum, the
Mongol capital so vividly described
by William of Rubruck in the 1250s,
was located. And many have
heard of the Orkhon Inscriptions
(Fig. 1), the earliest major
collection of texts in Old Turkic,
without necessarily associating
them with the place where they
may still be seen. Yet to visit the
Orkhon is a revelation. How can it
be, one may ask, that this remote
region was the center of entities
so important as the Turk or Mongol
Empires? Today simply finding the
right road to get there amongst the
multitude of unpaved and
unmarked tracks across the steppe
Photo © Daniel C. Waugh 2005
Fig. 2. Wooden bridge across the Orkhon River, looking toward Tamiryn Ulaan
Khoshuu (the hill in center).
can be a challenge for the
urbanized driver from Ulaanbaatar
(our driver managed to get lost...).
That we ask such a question
reflects merely how far we
outsiders are removed from the
context and time of those earlier
empires, and from the values
which animated their inhabitants.
Looked on from a different
perspective, the Orkhon and its
tributaries such as the Tamir are
ideal country for pastoral herders
(Fig. 2): rich in water and grass;
easily traveled, where the
topography that seems somewhat
intimidating on a modern map
turns out to be rolling hills or cut
abilities made Mongolia so important historically. It is no
accident that the Kazakh,
Mongolian and Tuvan herders of
the Altai are tracing still the timetested grazing routes and
wintering in the same locations as
their remote predecessors who left
the glorious arrays of petroglyphs
about which Prof. Esther Jacobson
writes in this issue. Right now,
herding is profitable, although the
mix of profits, leading to a greater
emphasis in some areas on the
herding of goats, which destroy the
regenerative power of the
vegetation as they eat it, poses a
threat for the future. So also does
the impact of climate change. Here
we are talking not just about the
unseasonable winters of a few
years ago, in which so many
animals died, a frequent enough
occurrence historically. It is
possible that longer-term changes
in precipitation have begun, where
insufficient moisture means some
pastures dry out much earlier than
used to be the case, and eventually
the rivers too may dwindle.
Fig. 1.The Bilge Qaghan stele, containing one of the famous Orkhon Inscriptions, ca. 730 CE. In final stages of restoration and cleaning by members of
the Turkish-Mongolian archaeological
expedition.
2
by easily traversable passes. One
can appreciate why the Xiongnu
who buried their dead at Tamiryn
Ulaan Khoshuu where we
excavated would have chosen that
site, on the south-facing slopes of
a hill with an inspiring view out
over the tree-lined, winding course
of the Tamir River. We cannot
know whether those Xiongnu had
the same kind of aesthetic
appreciation we do today, thrilling
at the contrast of the late
afternoon sun intensifying the
green meadow next to the river
against the backdrop of black
thunderclouds on the northern
horizon, or marveling at the sunset
colors on the clouds of a rain squall
passing to the south. Indeed, a
place to perform the rituals of final
farewells with the hope that the
dead would remain undisturbed.
Undisturbed they were not, at
least judging from the limited
excavations so far undertaken, for
most of the graves seem to have
been looted. What remains
suggests that at least the elite in
the Xiongnu society of some 2000
years ago at Tamir were wellconnected and well-to-do. We
found abundant evidence that they
owned Chinese lacquerware and
prized Chinese bronze mirrors (see
the articles below). Regarding the
Chinese connection, readers
should find the observations of Dr.
Di Cosmo in this issue to be of
particular interest, inviting us to
re-think traditional conceptions
about nomadic aggression and the
Any excavation leaves us with
more questions than answers,
among the more interesting ones
being that of the ethnic
composition of the Xiongnu. Dr.
Batsaikhan’s interesting speculations on that question in this
issue will need to be tested by
further
analysis
and
the
accumulation of much more data
than we currently have, but most
scholars today would probably
agree
that
the
nomadic
confederations such as the Xiongnu
were certainly multi-ethnic. Of
particular interest for me in this
connection is the issue of the
degree to which agriculture may
have played a significant role in
their lives. There is a variety of
interesting evidence that even
somewhat farther to the north,
growing and processing of grains
was important for the Xiongnu, and
in later centuries, we have an Arab
traveler ’s account of Karabalghasun (Fig. 3), the Uighur
capital located in the heart of the
Orkhon Valley, which suggests it
was surrounded by productive
fields and villages. It is hard to
know, of course, whether such an
indication conflates what he saw
in Mongolia with what he may have
seen much farther west in the
oases along the way. Are we
dealing with a society in which
raison d’être of the Great Wall.
That the nomads acquired
considerable wealth was further
supported by the fragments we
found, suggesting that they
dressed their dead with gold
jewelry and imported beads. So
far we can only hypothesize that
the Xiongnu of Tamir clothed their
dead in silks and fine woolen
fabrics, but the evidence of betterpreserved Xiongnu burials provides
a reasonable basis for such an
assumption. These may not have
been royal tombs, but they were
tombs of those who lived well. The
essay below detailing finds from
the recent Russian excavations
headed by Dr. Miniaev in Buriatia,
just north of the Mongolian border,
gives an idea of the riches of what
likely was a royal tomb.
Fig. 3. A portion of the vast ruins of Karabalghasun, the Uighur capital of
the 9th century, located in the Orkhon valley just north of Karakorum.
certain of its peoples were valued
because of their prowess at
agriculture? Can we ever know?
To what degree is it possible to
determine ethnicity from grave
goods?
The richness of Mongolia’s past
is yet little explored, despite
important excavations by Mongolian archaeologists and their
colleagues from a number of
countries. In recent years, as we
learn below from Prof. Tumen and
her colleagues, the Department of
Anthropology and Archaeology at
the Mongolian National University
has been laying the basis for what
may emerge as a ‘Golden Age’ of
Mongolian archaeology, by carrying
out extensive survey work and
undertaking excavations in new
areas with striking results. Among
the most impressive finds are
those of the Chingisid burials near
the border with the Inner
Mongolian Autonomous Region in
China. One of the highlights of last
summer for me was a meeting we
had with Dr. Navaan, whose
interview about his new finds is in
this issue. We were in the
classroom/museum
of
his
department at the University,
surrounded by display cases of
some of the remarkable finds from
their expeditions. He brought out
a few of the artifacts from his most
recent season — among them the
gold vajra and the gold filigree hat
decoration with its inlay which we
show below. I was very much
reminded of the latter when
viewing similarly crafted pieces at
3
the State Historical Museum in
Moscow later in the summer. The
objects there were mid-14 t h
century finds from the territory of
the Golden Horde (the western
part of the Mongol Empire), further
evidence for the vast scope of the
cultural interchange which took
place across Eurasia in the Mongol
period.
This rich panorama of Mongolia
is, of course, only part of the larger
history of Eurasian culture and
exchange. As a reminder of the
rest, we include in this issue news
of a still poorly known collection
of Khotan antiquities in Munich,
which is being carefully catalogued
by Dr. Jäger. Our next issue will
shift focus to the west, when we
will have several articles devoted
to Bactria and Afghanistan.
It is unfortunate to have to
conclude here on sad note. As we
were finalizing this number, the
news came from Panjikent that we
have lost an inspirational scholar
and true friend, Dr. Boris Marshak.
His contributions to our knowledge
of the Silk Road were immeasurable. A short appreciation
follows, and we hope to publish a
longer one in the future.
Daniel Waugh
History Department
The University of Washington
Seattle
[email protected]
Boris Il’ich Marshak
Photo courtesy of the State Hermitage Museum
July 9, 1933-July 28, 2006
Boris Il’ich Marshak, one of the
preeminent scholars of Central
Asian culture, died in Panjikent,
Tajikistan, on July 28, 2006, and
was buried the following day just
outside the walls of that important
Sogdian city to whose excavation
he had devoted his life’s work. He
was 73 years old.
Since 1979 Dr. Marshak had
been the Head of the Central Asian
and Caucasus Section of the
Oriental Division of the State
Hermitage Museum in St.
Petersburg, Russia. This year
marked the twenty-eighth
anniversary of his assuming the
direction of the important
excavations at Panjikent, where he
began his career in archaeology in
1954. The highlights of his
distinguished
career
and
publications may be found
elsewhere (in the Russian
Wikipedia and in the Festschrift
Eran ud Aneran [Transoxiana
2003]). He was honored b y
membership in the Academies of
many countries and visiting
professorships and fellowships at
prestigious universities around the
world. Those who have benefited
from his wisdom and scholarship
describe him as a teacher par
excellence, ‘one of the greatest
archaeologists’ of modern times,
and ‘the last of a great generation.’
Few scholars have acquired the
breadth of knowledge he
possessed of the cultural
interactions across Central Asia in
the first millennium of the
Common Era. He was known for
his advocacy of a distinct Sogdian
culture within the larger world of
Iranian culture; he contributed to
the understanding of relations
between Central Asia and China.
His Sogdian Silver (1971), which
he gave us permission to post on
Silk Road Seattle shortly before he
left for his summer’s excavation,
remains the authoritative study of
the subject. His Legends, Tales and
Fables in the Art of Sogdiana
(2002) offers an evocative
interpretation of the striking
murals uncovered by the Panjikent
expeditions, sketches from which
frame this page. As he wrote in
the conclusion to that publication
of the Ehsan Yarshater Lectures he
delivered at the University of
London, ‘I foresee the criticism
that my imagination has been too
vivid at times.’ His death has
deprived us of a man who
felicitously combined rigorous and
cautious scholarship with a vivid
imagination, and, in the words of
a colleague, ‘still had a lot of things
to say.’
I regret having met him only
once, when in his quiet way he
charmed an audience here in
Seattle and stimulated colleagues
and friends in conversations during
social occasions. When he left, our
first thought was when we could
hope to have him return and stay
longer, since even that visit of a
few days so enriched our lives and
programs.
We share our deep sense of loss
with his family: his wife Valentina
I vanovna Raspopova, a distinguished archaeologist who
worked alongside him at Panjikent,
his daughter Maria who works in
the Hermitage Museum, and his
grandson.
Daniel Waugh
The Rock Art of Mongolia
Esther Jacobson-Tepfer
University of Oregon, Eugene (USA)
Within a region — North Asia —
remarkably rich in rock art sites,
Mongolia represents one of the
finest concentrations. As of 1998,
approximately 75 rock art sites
had been identified across
Mongolia. It is safe to estimate
that in the intervening years, that
number has grown significantly. To
date, however, relatively few of
these sites have been carefully or
thoroughly documented and
almost none have received the
kind of cultural attention they
deserve on the national level or
within the community of scholars
and management and preservation specialists. The following
comments are intended to
introduce the subject of Mongolian
rock art, and particularly that of
northwestern Mongolia, to indicate
the source of rock art’s cultural
value, and to alert serious
observers of rock art to the threats
that cultural tradition now faces.
A few preliminary words are
appropriate to set the stage for
this discussion. Rock art is found
both within caves — where it is
known as ‘parietal’ art — and in
the open air; in the latter case it
can be executed on bedrock or on
boulders. There are two kinds of
rock art known in Mongolia (just
as there are around the world).
Pictographs are made by painting
or inking directly on stone
surfaces. Petroglyphs are executed by percussive blows on or
engravings into the hardened case
of a stone surface. Although
imagery may be found in the form
of individual markings on a single
stone surface, within Mongolia it
is much more typical to find
concentrations of such imagery.
We may distinguish the extent of
those concentrations by referring
to a ‘point,’ i.e. where one finds
only one or a few images, or to a
‘site’––characterized by a
significant concentration of
imagery. In cases where the rock
art is extensive and integrated with
other surface archaeology, it is
appropriate to speak of a
‘complex.’ Within Mongolia, most
rock art occurs within the context
of sites, but there are also
extensive complexes where rock
art has been integrated with other
surface archaeology. This is
certainly the case within the
Mongolian Altai.
Pictographic imagery is found
scattered throughout the central
and western regions of Mongolia.
In most cases, however, it has only
poorly survived millennia of
weather and human intervention.
Existing examples of this tradition
from northern and central Mongolia
indicate motifs associated with the
Transbaikal tradition exemplified
by rock art along the Selenga River
(Okladnikov and Zaparozhskaia
1969). Motifs include frontal
figures that appear to morph into
large winged birds, enclosures
filled with dots, and horses along
‘trails.’ Well-known examples of
this tradition are found at Tol’zhgiin
Boomyn and Bichigt Bulagiin, both
in Hövsgöl aimag, and at Gachurt
and Ikh Tengeriin-am, both in the
vicinity of Ulaanbaatar. Although
there is no agreement regarding
the dating of the Transbaikal rock
art tradition, it is probably safe to
associate it with the early Iron Age
and with peoples who depended for
their livelihood on animal
husbandry. At Doloon Uul, in
Ömnögovi aimag and close to the
Chinese border, are found
paintings of masks and hands (?)
that are reminiscent of a tradition
known more widely in the Yinshan
Mountains of China (Chen 1988).
5
The single example of surviving
painted rock art in northwestern
Mongolia is that of the Khoid
Tsenkir Cave, in Khovd aimag.
Located in the flat, arid steppe to
the east of the Altai range and
southwest of the large lake, Khar
Uss, this cave has been known to
local herders for thousands of
years and to scholars for several
decades. The cave was first
published in 1972 by the Russian
archaeologist, A. P. Okladnikov,
who reproduced the painted
images within the cave in drawings
and colored facsimiles (Okladnikov
1972). Most scholars agree that
some of the paintings there may
go back to the late Paleolithic
period; such a date is suggested
by the possible representations of
ostriches, a mammoth, and a
(wild) camel. Unfortunately, both
during and since the original
documentation of the cave, the
original imagery has been either
effectively obliterated or else so
repainted that it is impossible to
judge the quality or the chronology
of the original paintings. At this
time it is not possible to tell what
is original and what is not; and the
over-painting and other intrusive
and repeated attempts to ‘clarify’
the imagery assures that the oldest
images cannot provide any reliable
means for their dating — either by
radiocarbon dating or by references to technique and style.
Given the information regarding
rock paintings in the northern
Chinese Altai recently offered by
Wang Binghua in this journal, it is
quite possible that there were once
many more pictographic sites in
western Mongolia, as well as
elsewhere across the country. If
they did once exist, it is probable
that all have been destroyed by
exposure to time and weather. By
contrast, the petroglyphs — i.e.,
imagery pecked or engraved into
a rock surface — are much more
persistent; this tradition is consequently far better known.
Scattered sites in the Gobi region
reflect pictorial traditions of the
Bronze and Iron Ages, with
naturalistic scenes of hunting,
herding, individual animals and
human figures. Unquestionably,
the sites that have been published
to date (e.g., Tseveendorzh,
Batchuluun, Batbold 2004;
Tseveendorzh, Batbold 2005),
represent only a small number of
those that remain to be identified,
surveyed, and documented. Larger
concentrations of petroglyphs have
been found further to the north,
along the Chuluut River valley;
many of these have been
published, albeit incompletely and
generally inadequately (Okladnikov 1981; Novgorodova 1984,
1989). The Chuluut petroglyphs
are of particular interest since they
include images of an archaic ‘birdwoman’ type that is otherwise well
known only through the petroglyphs of Kalbak-Tash, in the
Russian Altai Republic (Kubarev,
Jacobson 1996).
Unquestionably we have only
begun to develop an understanding
of the petroglyphic tradition of
Mongolia: though much is already
known, it is certain that many sites
have yet to be identified and
studied. This is particularly true in
the case of the Altai mountain
region of western Mongolia. Within
that region, the largest and richest
concentrations of rock art are
found in mountainous Bayan Ölgiy
aimag (see map). These sites and
complexes are located within the
valleys that descend from the high
ridge separating Mongolia from
Russia and northern China, along
the shores of the great lakes
Khurgan and Khoton Nuur, as well
as within valleys further to the
east: around Ölgiy, the sacred
mountain Tsengel’ Khairkhan, and
scattered along the valleys of the
Sagsay and Khargantin Gol
drainages.
Ancient artists sometimes used
the granitic boulders that are
heaped up on moraines descending
6
from the high mountain ridge. That
material, however, is generally of
poor quality, its internal core
tending to soften and its external,
coarse-grained layers tending to
exfoliate over time. For that reason
one frequently finds that the outer
layers of worked granitic boulders
— such as those scattered across
the valleys of the Ikh and Baga
Khatugiin Gol — have simply fallen
away, leaving only ‘ghosts’ of the
original imagery. The vast majority
of surviving rock in the mountainous region has been pecked
into the sandstone (metagreywacke) characteristic of bedrock in
the high Altai. Expressed primarily
in the form of outcroppings and
secondarily in the form of boulders,
this sandstone has been hardened
by the long process of mountain
building characteristic of the Altai
Range and subsequently polished
and scraped by the glaciers that
filled the high valleys until
approximately 16,000 years ago.
Petroglyphs were typically
executed by either a direct or
indirect method. ‘Direct’ pecking
refers to the use of a single, handheld instrument to strike directly
on the rock surface. ‘Indirect’
pecking refers to a two-handed
method, whereby a ‘hammer
stone’ is used to strike a second
pecking instrument made from
stone or metal. The apparent use
of the direct method of pecking is
frequently seen in both the oldest
petroglyphs in northwest Mongolia
and in those of a relatively recent
period. The tell-tale signs of such
a pecking technique include large,
irregular pits in the stone surface
and rough contour lines. Indirect
pecking generally offers greater
control and was certainly the
method of choice in the case of all
finely textured and contoured
images. Since within the Altai
region the landscape is almost
literally paved with stones, the
identification of the instruments
used for pecking the imagery
would be difficult if not impossible.
With the wearing out of one
hammer or pecking stone it would
have been very simple to find
others. Judging from the texture
of contours and silhouettes,
however, it is possible to determine
if the percussive instrument was
Photo copyright © Daniel C. Waugh 2005
fine or coarse
pointed, just as it is
possible to determine artistic
quality
in
the
working of the stone
surface.
In approaching
the rock art of
Mongolia (or, for
that matter, of any
other region of the
world), one should
Fig. 1. Present-day winter dwelling on south-facing
bear in mind that
slope in the Baga Oigor valley near a major group of
the images were
petroglyphs.
originally white and
would have been far more visible, surface, and the nature of the
even from a distance, than is the immediate environment all qualify
case today. That white coloration the rapidity with which a pecked
results from the crushing of the image could become repatinated.
surface rock crystals as a result of
direct or indirect blows. A
Within the mountainous region
considerable period of time has to of northwestern Mongolia,
elapse before the white coloration petroglyphs are often found in
of the pecked images begins to small concentrations that coincide
darken down. Judging by style and with the present-day winter
subject, we can estimate that dwellings of local herders. This
within the Altai region of Bayan coincidence indicates that
Ölgiy it takes approximately 3000 protected places, nestled into the
years for imagery to begin to lose slopes and draws of mountains,
its white coloration. Extremely old have been used for temporary
images may become as dark as the habitations for thousands of years.
surrounding hardened ‘skin’ of the A particularly striking example of
stone. In this respect the patina this is found in the Khar Yamaa
(discoloration) of the images may valley (Tseveendorj, Jacobson,
indicate age; but that is only one Kubarev 1997) where present-day
clue, among many, regarding the winter dwellings coincide with
chronology of the rock art and has concentrations of imagery dating
to be used with considerable back to the Bronze and early Iron
caution. The mineral character of Ages (for an analogous example,
the substrate, the pitch of the see Fig. 1). The rock art in this
The resulting surfaces are
frequently smooth and textured by
the movement of glaciers. Their
color is highly varied, ranging from
green-blue, to a rich tawny hue,
to a coloration that is almost black,
and to deep reds or rose tonalities.
This varied discoloration of the
surface — what is usually referred
to as patina — results from the
dynamic interaction of the rock
substrate’s mineral character and
the nature of air or water borne
substances. The particular beauty
of the Altai sandstone’s coloration
in combination with the textured
traces of glacial movement has
created surfaces that are, in effect,
elegant ‘canvases.’ The beauty of
this material may help to explain
the extraordinary abundance of
rock art imagery throughout the
high Mongolian Altai.
Fig. 2. Circular altars in Baga Oigor valley, below a hillside with a concentration of petroglyphs.
7
valley typically includes realistic or
stylized animals, hunting and
herding scenes, as well as a few
scenes of combat between archers.
Along the valley floor are many
surface structures typical of what
one finds throughout this
mountainous region. These include
large mounds with elaborated
‘walls’ and adjoining circular altars
(Fig. 2, preceding page); simple
mounds that may indicate burials;
large standing stones, often set in
stone ‘frames’; and Turkic
enclosures, often associated with
the carved stone images of Turkic
warriors. Khar Yamaa can thus be
considered a rock art complex that
includes several sites of concentrated petroglyphs.
The rock art complex of
Tsagaan Salaa/Baga Oigor is not
only of unusual size; it is also of a
remarkable age. A few images of
mammoths indicate that the
complex dates back to at least the
late Pleistocene, before mammoths disappeared from this
region of North Asia. Many images
of aurochs (wild cattle, Bos
primigenius), horses, and argali
(wild sheep) also appear to date
from a very early period. They are
rendered with a static, profile
monumentality and with the
simplification of legs and the
rounded treatment of abdomens
familiar to many Westerners from
the open-air site of Foz Coa,
Portugal, or from Paleolithic cave
art in France and Spain. By the
early Holocene, mammoths had, of
course, disappeared and were not
again represented in the complex.
On the other hand, many images
of elk (Cervus elaphus sibiricus)
One of the largest concentrations of rock art in
northwestern Mongolia is the
complex of Tsagaan Salaa/Baga
Oigor (Jacobson, Kubarev,
Tseevendorj 2001), located along
the left and right banks of the
Tsagaan Salaa (White Fork) before
its confluence with the Baga Oigor
(the Small Uighur) and further
along the left bank of the Baga
Oigor for a total length of
approximately 30 km (Fig. 3).
Some of the images are pecked
into granitic or sandstone boulders
scattered at the base of the slopes
and bordering the rivers. The
majority, however, are pecked or
engraved on the outcroppings that
occur across the face of the slopes.
The imagery is generally denser
close to the valley floor, but it
continues up the slopes on the
north side of the rivers for a
distance of several hundred
meters. (Small concentrations of
rock art on the right bank of the
Baga Oigor were not included in
the definition of the complex nor
in its 2001 publication.)
Fig 3. Petroglyphs in the Baga Oigor Valley.
8
and moose (Alces alces), executed
in a style of monumental realism,
indicate the early Holocene
development of forests sufficient
to support this species. A few
images of bear, also, and many of
aurochs, horses, and caprids
reflect a conception of zoomorphic
representation pointing to a preBronze Age date. The earliest
images of hunters, usually frontal
and with great clubs or spears,
may mark the advent of the
Bronze Age. The only image type
from western Mongolian sites that
appears to reflect a spirit world is
found in the Tsagaan Salaa/Baga
Oigor complex. This image has a
bell-shaped body and horns.
Sometimes it has feet, sometimes
it appears to be giving birth to an
animal or infant child, but it never
has
recognizable
features
(Jacobson 2002).
The complex of Tsagaan Salaa/
Baga Oigor is especially rich in rock
art imagery from the middle and
late Bronze Age. Often suggestive
of complex narratives, scenes from
that period may be of animals
alone or they may be filled with
representations of hunting after
wild cattle, caprids, or elk, archers
in combat, or herds of animals
accompanied by herders (Fig. 4,
next page). Wild and domesticated yak make their appearance
as do scenes of family caravans.
These characteristically include
domesticated yak with household
goods loaded on their backs and
led by women (on right in Fig. 3).
Caravan scenes are frequently
accompanied by hunters, as if to
suggest the hunting grounds
through which families made their
way to new pastures. In many
cases the large yak carry baskets
in which the children or the family
are riding. On rare occasions we
see these caravans attacked, as in
a raid.
Images of family caravans, like
those of men driving wheeled
vehicles, reflect the increasing
transhumance of local populations
in the late Bronze Age. This major
shift in life styles probably
Photo copyright © Gary Tepfer
Fig. 4. Mythic scene (?), with elk, moose, figures and small animals.
Bronze Age. Tsagaan Sala II.
great ‘deer stones’ of central and
north Mongolia. Their appearance
here, in northwestern Mongolia,
appears to reflect the intrusion of
a new population at the end of the
Bronze Age, bringing with it the
tribal emblem of a deer. From
where these people came,
however, and who they were
remains unclear (Jacobson 2001).
The great period of Tsagaan
Salaa/Baga Oigor rock art seems
The rock art complex of the
Upper Tsagaan Gol is even larger
than that of Tsagaan Salaa/Baga
Oigor and no less marked by
imagery of outstanding quality.
Moreover, its combination of a
distinctive physical landscape,
extensive rock art, and numerous
ritual sites make it one of the most
complex concentrations of
prehistoric and early historic art
within North Asia (Jacobson,
Tseveendorj, Kubarev 2002).
Located in a high, narrow valley
just under the glaciers of Tavan
Bogd, the knot of mountains at the
emerged gradually during the
second millennium BCE, as forests
retreated in response to the
gradual reversion to a drier,
harsher climate. Paleoenvironmentalists believe that by
approximately 3000 years before
the present, the climate and
environment of this part of
Mongolia had become as we know
it today. In effect, by the late
Bronze Age the environment
appears to have forced a gradual
transition from sedentary hunting
and pastoralism to a herdingdependent economy. In addition,
the appearance of horse riding in
the late Bronze Age — vividly
recorded in the rock art of Tsagaan
Salaa/Baga Oigor and other sites
— supported the transition first to
transhumance and then to a seminomadic life style. In imagery
dating to the Late Bronze and Early
Iron Ages, we see, also, the
appearance of an increasing
stylization in the treatment of
animals. Deer (elk) images,
especially, reflect that trend: their
bodies are often rendered as
extremely elongated, their legs
thin, even vestigial, the heads
drawn out into the form of a long
bird beak, and their antlers
exaggerated into great waves
stretching back over their spines
(Fig. 5). These highly stylized
formulations are exactly those
known more frequently from the
to end with the early Iron Age.
While there are many images later
than that, including some images
and even inscriptions from the
Turkic period, they are not as
impressive as the earlier material.
Nonetheless, the history of
representation covered by this
extraordinary complex extends
over as much as 12,000 years. For
that reason alone, but also for the
outstanding quality of much of its
art, this complex serves as a
remarkable cultural heritage; it has
appropriately been proposed for
inclusion in the list of World
Heritage Sites.
Fig. 5. Stylized deer, birthing women, hunt scenes and dwelling. Late Bronze
Age. Baga Oigor II.
9
reverence in the
distant past, just as
it is in the present.
In general, the
rock art of the
Upper Tsagaan Gol
reflects the same
cultures and economic transitions
one sees at Khar
Fig. 6. View toward Tavan Bogd,
Yamaa and TsaUpper Tsagaan Gol.
gaan Salaa/Baga Oigor.
Fig. 9.
There are, however, a
juncture of China, Mongolia, and few significant differRussia (Fig. 6), the complex is ences: perhaps because of its
wrapped around a boat-shaped, proximity to the high mountains,
there is no rock art
here that can
confidently
be
dated to the late
Pleistocene; that is,
no images of the
megafauna that
disappeared at the
end of the Pleistocene. On the
other hand, we
have identified a
number of stone
artifacts of Paleolithic form as well
as many images of
elk, argali, wild
goats, horses and
Fig. 7. Horse herd. Bronze Age. Upper Tsagaan Gol.
aurochs that by
style and technique
sacred mountain named Shiviit of execution indicate a pre-Bronze
Khairkhan . To judge from the Age date. Tsagaan Gol is
manner in which its flanks are particularly rich in art of the Bronze
adorned with both rock art and Age; the complex includes some
surface structures, Shiviit spectacular panels of hunts and
Khairkhan was the focus of herding, as well as of carts and
riding (Figs. 7, 8, 9).
The many representations of highly stylized
deer dating to the late
Bronze Age and the fact
that these images are
frequently
pecked
directly over earlier,
Bronze Age imagery,
raise significant questions regarding social
change in that period
(Jacobson 2000) (Fig.
10, next page). In
addition, there are
many panels from the
Fig. 8. Young men and bulls. Late Bronze Age.
Turkic period that count
Upper Tsagaan Gol.
10
Cart. Bronze Age. Upper Tsagaan Gol.
among the finest preserved from
that period (latter first millennium
CE) within North Asia. These
scenes include large riders, riders
hunting wild goats, and even riders
carrying their eagles or falcons for
hunting.
About 45 km directly to the
south and within a closed border
zone is found the site of Aral Tolgoi,
located at the western end of the
great
lake,
Khoton
Nuur
(Tseveendorj, Kubarev, Yakobson
[Jacobson] 2005). This is a region
of northwestern Mongolia that
uniquely retains, even today, an
extensive relic forest from the
early-middle Holocene. Compared
to those we have already
mentioned, this site is quite small,
taking the form of a single, whaleshaped hill where imagery is
located almost entirely on the
eastern half of the ridge. Despite
its relatively small size, however,
this site is of exceeding
importance: it represents the
finest and largest open-air
collection of Paleolithic rock art
within North Asia, unsurpassed by
any other documented site. The
early date of this material is
indicated by a fine image of a
rhinoceros, an animal that, like the
mammoth, disappeared from this
region approximately 11,000 years
before the present. Images of
ostriches, also, are of particular
interest since they must date back
to a period previous to the
emergence of forests in the early
Holocene. Other images of
considerable age include aurochs,
elk, horses, argali, and wild goats
Bilüüt include several art along the north-south valleys
unusually large, early Iron of mountainous Bayan Ölgiy. Many
Age horsemen. Many of these have been noted by local
representations of groups of rock art enthusiasts; too many
large yak are also found have been badly damaged by local
here; these reflect the herders and thoughtless tourists
herding economy of the late (Fig. 12). The fate of these sites,
Bronze Age. An area of as of the large complexes
scattered petroglyphs is described above, is a subject for
also found south of the lake serious concern.
and within the border zone
closed to the public. A
When the great rock art sites
number of the compositions of northwestern Mongolia are
there are of outstanding considered on a larger regional
quality, some suggesting a scale, they are seen to have clear
date within the late associations with the Bronze Age,
Pleistocene.
A large Iron Age, and Turkic cultures
Fig. 10. Stylized deer. Late Bronze or Early
Iron Age. Upper Tsagaan Gol.
number of petroglyphs are responsible for major complexes in
found scattered on the the Russian Altai. One finds, also,
(Fig. 11). Many of these images boulders of a great moraine associations with rock art of the
are rendered with considerable (Khara-Boreg) at the east end of Minusinsk Basin, but these are
simplicity, grace and monu- Khurgan Nuur. In summer of 2005 weaker and include only a few prementality, but many are also we identified and began the Bronze Age references. The art of
extremely difficult to see. Perhaps documentation of another major the early Iron Age of the so-called
because of glacial action in
‘Scythian Period,’ affirms
the Pleistocene, and due to
relationships between this
the much more humid
large region, the Sayan
conditions in this far
Mountains, the Russian
western valley over the last
Altai, and even with the
few thousand years, the
Tienshan of Kazakhstan
bedrock on which the
and Kyrgyzstan.
images are pecked is
crumbling and frequently
While our understanding
covered with lichen. (Even
of this material is only at a
more destructive are the
beginning phase, it is
thousands of sheep and
already clear that the rock
goats that cross this hill
art of the Mongolian Altai,
every day, their small,
as well as that across
Fig. 11. Archaic elk with overlaid images. Pre-Bronze
sharp hoofs impacting
Mongolia, serves as a
Age. Aral Tolgoi.
surfaces already weakened
priceless document for the
by age and weather.) In assessing complex of rock art east of Tsengel’ study of the prehistory in the heart
the significance of Aral Tolgoi, it Khairkhan Uul. Although much of of Eurasia. Rock art constitutes the
must be related to the small the material at this isolated site clearest source material for a
concentration of Paleolithic reflects a cattle-herding culture consideration of cultures and
imagery at the site of Kalgut, on from the late Bronze Age,
the Ukok Plateau (Molodin, there are also many images
Cheremisin 1999) and to the of horned, anthropomorphic
Paleolithic imagery of Tsagaan figures — male and female
Salaa/Baga Oigor.
— in postures suggesting
dance or birthing. The
Within the Khoton Nuur basin darkened patina of these
is also found the site called Bilüüt, images, their apparent
a series of three hills on the north execution with a large blunt
shore of the lake (Kortum et al. instruments, and the
2005). The pecked imagery at this exceedingly
damaged
site reflects an extension of the aspect of the surfaces on
cultural traditions so vividly which they are found
represented at the two large indicate a pre-Bronze Age
Fig. 12. Petroglyphs defaced by red paint near
complexes to the north. Perhaps date. In addition, there are
a herder camp, Khatuugiin Gol (not far from
Bayan Ölgiy).
the most impressive images from many concentrations of rock
11
traditions that cross national
boundaries and paleoenvironmental regions. In terms of its
scientific value, rock art should be
considered to have a documentary
value no less significant than
materials
retrieved
from
archaeological excavations of
burials and settlement sites. But
it is also true that rock art is neither
pure art nor archaeology: it
mediates between the two
disciplines, revealing styles,
subjects, and values held in
common by large communities and
cultures while at the same time
disrupting general cultural rules
with the insights and expressive
clarity of individuals. Rock art is,
in other words, both art and
archaeology, both image and ‘text.’
Around the world and within
Mongolia, rock art has been
attracting increasing attention over
the last few years and on the part
of both scientists and amateurs.
For this reason it is important to
review the proper ways to handle
this material so that it is preserved
for the benefit of future generations. While rock art has
traditionally been studied using a
variety of approaches, we are now
keenly aware that many of these
approaches have ultimately proven
to be extremely destructive. It is
all too possible, in other words, to
love rock art ‘to death.’ First one
must realize that even though rock
appears to be solid and in some
respects ‘eternal,’ it is not: any
rock surface, pecked or otherwise,
is in a constantly dynamic process
of decay catalyzed by time and the
elements. Pecked surfaces,
however, have a particular fragility.
The very act of pecking or
engraving images has resulted in
a breaking of the hardened ‘rind’
or case, opening the surfaces to
the in-seeping of water and the
intrusion of vegetation. Temperature change, freezing and
thawing, further weakens the
pecked surfaces, as does the
millennial growth of lichens.
Observers of rock art will
frequently note, perhaps, that the
crushed surfaces of whole images
have simply dropped out of the
stone surface, leaving ‘echoes’ or
‘ghosts’ of the original. This is, in
fact, a natural process and can
probably not be stopped: indeed,
we know of absolutely no way in
which it can be delayed. But the
process is radically hastened by
human activities. Walking over the
pecked images weakens the
pecked surface and should be
avoided. Cleaning the surface,
except by the light brushing away
of superficial dirt and pebbles, is
also no longer considered to be
acceptable. Lichen growth should
never be removed or disturbed.
While we may not yet be able to
exploit lichenometry as a rock art
dating technique, it will likely be
possible to do so in the future.
Lichens are, also, like ivy: once the
growth has taken root on stone it
serves as a kind of protective
covering, while pulling it away or
scrubbing it off tears up the
organism’s tendrils and the rock
crystals in which they are
embedded. The destruction of rock
art sites in the neighboring region
of the Russian Altai is a case in
point: at several of the most
important sites, in researchers’
enthusiasm to record the images
they had found, they scrubbed the
surfaces of the stone free of all
lichen. As a result, too many of
those surfaces are now falling
away, obliterating the very images
the researchers wished to record.
The third process that must be
avoided is recording the images by
any kind of rubbing technique. This
has traditionally been the preferred
way of recording rock art, and we
still see serious scientists as well
as amateurs using this approach.
Again, however, we also see the
destructive results in many sites
of the Russian Altai as well as
elsewhere in the world. The
physical pressure required in
making rubbings only further
weakens the ‘cleaned’ surfaces.
The ink or similar substance used
to make the rubbing invariably
seeps through the paper and
contaminates the chemistry of the
stone surface. Briefly put: neither
12
researchers nor rock art lovers
should ever record rock art by any
intrusive methods. The best
recording method is photography,
although one may also employ a
tracing technique, using a heavy,
clear plastic sheet over the
imagery. Used in conjunction with
soft felt pens, this method of
copying is probably quite harmless.
The rock art of Mongolia, and
especially that of the Mongolian
Altai, is a precious resource for the
study of prehistoric societies and
their culture. Given its outstanding
quality and quantity, it is curious
that this material has not been
extensively studied until relatively
recently. As indicated earlier, this
situation has been changing; but
emerging attention brings negative
as well as positive results. On the
one hand, one might assume that
the more attention rock art
receives, the better its chances of
preservation. Unfortunately, while
many local herders and officials
decry the increasing destruction
and theft visible in rock art sites
throughout Mongolia, there has
until recently been little political
will and no financial backing to
address this situation anywhere,
and certainly not in the richest
region of rock art — the Mongolian
Altai. The increasing attention of
tourists brings with it, also,
intended or unintended impacts:
damage inflicted by individuals
with selfish interests or by those
(far more numerous) who admire
the images pecked onto rocks but
do not realize the negative impact
of human feet, human hands, or
inappropriate (intrusive) means of
reproduction. Indeed, it behooves
all who honor this extraordinary
tradition to encourage its
preservation: both through our
own actions and through our
communications with others.
About the Author
Esther Jacobson-Tepfer is the
Kerns Professor of Asian Art in the
Department of Art History,
University of Oregon. She has been
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Chen Zhao-fu. Découverte de l’Art
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N. Hamayon, eds. Shamanism.
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Kubarev. “A Petroglyphic Complex
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Mountains, Bayan Olgii Aimag,
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Batbold. Molor Tolgoin Xadny
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Archaeology, MAS, 2004.
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D. Tseveendorj, E. Jacobson, V. D.
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13
Batchuluun,
working on the petroglyphs and
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‘Man-stone.’ Upper Tsagaan
Gol. Turkic Period.
The Origins of the Great Wall
Nicola Di Cosmo
Institute for Advanced Study,
Princeton (USA)
Owen Lattimore probably was
the first Western scholar to see the
Great Wall more as an economic
and environmental than a cultural
boundary between nomads and
settled people (Lattimore 1937,
1940). Arthur Waldron in his
excellent study restored its
historical dimension, exploding
some of its myths (that it could be
seen from the moon, for instance)
and focusing on its construction
during the Ming dynasty, in the
fifteenth century, when the Great
Wall became the majestic
monument we can see today
(Waldron 1990). Yet although the
Ming Great Wall is a relatively
recent creation, the concept of a
Great Wall, or more correctly ‘long
walls’ (chang cheng) has been in
existence for a much longer time,
going back to the late fourth
century BCE. As astonishing as the
spatial dimension of the Great Wall
is, covering several
thousand miles, it is
its temporal aspect
that has been key to
its success as a
symbol of patriotism
and national pride, a
line in the sand
between barbarians
and Chinese drawn
even before China’s
imperial unification.
Yet once we
begin to consider
the Great Wall as a
historical artifact
rather than as
symbol, we are
bound to recognize
an altogether different picture. As a
defense structure,
its record is abysmally bad. It never
prevented invasions, and it was
expensive to build
and maintain. The
14
The theory that the northern
walls were erected to defend
Chinese states from the nomads
is well known and continues to
carry much weight today. As we
shall see in greater detail below,
Sima Qian’s narrative account of
Photograph copyright © Nicola Di Cosmo
If there is a single Chinese
monument that people anywhere
in the world are likely to have seen,
heard of, or read about, this is the
Great Wall (Fig. 1). Aside from its
mythical proportions, the Great
Wall has symbolic powers that
transcend its historical and
material existence. It has been
depicted as a parting line between
the known and the unknown and
the physical line marking the
frontiers of civilization, the
inhospitable liminal universe which
was the preserve of a demimonde
of barbarians and transfrontiersmen, convicts and
soldiers, crafty merchants and
banished officials. In historical
writings, the Great Wall has been
presented as protection against
invaders — the engineering
product of a superior civilization
erected against the tumultuous
waves of its enemies — but also
as the symbol of unrestrained,
vain, and arrogant tyranny,
tangible product of the blood and
tears of the toiling masses. Most
recently the Great Wall has
acquired yet another meaning,
following new orientations in the
politics of historical interpretation:
a meeting point of cultural
exchange, compared to a river that
unites rather than divides, and
brings different nationalities closer
together. A malleable symbol
adapted to political and cultural
metaphors, gate to be crossed or
drawbridge to be lifted, the Great
Wall of China continues to be a
testimony of China’s cultural,
historical, and now national
identity: a most patriotic artifact.
monumental futility of the Great
Wall as a military installation has
been demonstrated in especially
stark terms during the Ming period,
when massive investments did not
prevent China from being attacked
by the Mongols and eventually
conquered by another northern
people, the Manchus. China’s
strategic culture seems to have
favored static defense, and this
may be one reason for the long
existence of various types of
border fortifications, and the Ming
construction of the Great Wall as
we know it. But was this always
the case? Did the Great Wall
always serve as a defensive
structure? These are some of the
questions I had to ask as I became
interested in the early phase of the
history of the frontier between
China and the steppe.
Fig. 1. The Ming Great Wall in northeastern China.
the historical relations between
China and the northern nomadic
peoples in chapter 110 of his
Records of the Grand Historian
(Shiji, first century BCE) was based
on the historical myth (an
‘invented tradition,’ some might
say), according to which China and
the north had been perennially at
odds with one another, and that
China had since the dawn of history
suffered from nomadic invasions.
This rationalization of what was in
effect a late phenomenon, that is,
the appearance of the strong
unified nomadic empire of the
Xiongnu, set the tone for the later
Chinese understanding of relations
with the north. According to this
deeply rooted topos of Chinese
historical thinking, which has been
repeatedly asserted as recently as
at the Symposium on the Great
Wall held in 1994, China was weak
and unable to oppose an adequate
defense against the northern
nomads, except for the Great Wall,
which then became a symbol of
resistance against all invaders
(Waldron 1995). Concern for the
historical ‘weakness’ of China visà-vis the nomads could not exist,
of course, outside of a notion that
regarded the nomads themselves
as a positively aggressive, militarily superior enemy (as
represented, for instance, in the
Disney animated movie Mulan). As
Sima Qian said, it was their innate
nature to love war (Sima Qian
1993, p. 129).
The history of the northern
frontier before the unification of
China is obscure and often cast, in
the earliest Chinese texts, in
moralizing terms. The Chinese had
already attained a high level of
cultural sophistication, with music,
rituals, moral norms, and
especially writing. Those people
who did not write, had different
customs, and did not belong to the
Chinese cultural and political
sphere, were therefore regarded
as uncivilized. Several passages
can be extracted from the earliest
historical documents which present
the story of the relationship
between Chinese and non-Chinese
in terms of ‘civilized’ vs.
‘barbarians.’ Among the nonChinese were, of course, northern
peoples thought to be the
ancestors of the warlike nomadic
horsemen who were to become a
major threat from the Han dynasty
onwards. From the mid-eighth to
the mid-sixth century BCE, Chinese
states conducted a series of
military campaigns in the north
against peoples called Rong and
Di. Sometimes these peoples
retaliated but usually they were
defeated, subjugated, incorporated, and eventually assimilated. This process was made
easier by the understanding that
certain rules of conduct in war (a
code of honor, a sense of fair play)
that were to be observed, at least
theoretically, when the fighting
occurred among Chinese polities,
were no longer prescriptive in the
case of foreign wars, where no trick
or stratagem, no broken oath, no
breach of loyalty carried a moral
sanction or other undesired
political consequences. Foreign
peoples were conceived as
resources, and their use as such
was not only practiced by Chinese
states, but also theorized.
From the sparse textual
evidence at our disposal we can
see that the land and labor
extracted from non-Chinese
groups constituted a type of wealth
often coveted by the Chinese
states. Victories obtained against
foreign peoples could serve the
strategic purpose of intimidating
potential enemies. Another
doctrine — wrongly assumed to be
pacifist — maintained that wars
against foreigners had to be
undertaken sparingly, because
there was a risk that such ventures
may weaken the state and expose
it to attacks from other Chinese
states. It was realpolitik, not moral
values, that regulated the foreign
relations between Chinese states
and their neighbors. Generally
speaking, the political discourse
about foreigners in pre-imperial
China tends to justify expansion
and conquest, which is exactly
what happened. Looking closely at
15
those statements that point to
cultural differences, then, we find
that such differences provide a
political rationale that allowed for
the expansion of Chinese polities.
Especially in the Warring States
period (5th-3rd century BCE) the
Chinese political and economic
spaces continued to expand even
though the number of independent
states vying for power dwindled.
The general trend was towards the
creation of larger and stronger
states, which expanded not only
by swallowing up other Chinese
states but also by expanding into
external areas. If we look at the
northern frontier, this trend is
clearly identifiable as the states of
Zhao, Yan, and Qin kept expanding
and growing both militarily and
economically. Setbacks occurred,
but the general impulse was
towards becoming stronger, and
alien peoples, not integrated in
Chinese civilization, were a
reservoir relatively easy to tap
into. From pastoral people the
Chinese imported cattle and sheep,
wool, leather, horses, and pelts.
Moreover, at this time the frontier
economy became monetarized
through the use of metals, such as
gold objects possibly used as
currency, and especially bronze
coins. Military requirements may
have played a key role, since pack
animals must have been needed
in increasing numbers for
transportation during military
campaigns as armies became
larger and larger. Horses become
especially important from the late
fourth century BCE with the
adoption of mounted warfare by
Chinese
states.
In
sum,
archaeological but also textual
evidence suggest a historical
context, on the eve of the building
of the very first ‘great wall,’ in
which the northern frontier zone
appears to have been increasingly
valuable, in economic and strategic
terms, to northern Chinese states.
As we know, the First Emperor
of Qin, the one who in 221 BCE
emerged victorious from the
struggle among the ‘Warring
States’ and unified China, was not
the one who first erected walls. He
merely expanded and unified a
network of fortifications which
existed previously and had been
established by the states of Qin in
the northwest, Zhao in the north,
and Yen in the northeast (see map,
Fig. 2, for the various ‘walls’).
Given that the conventional theory
holds that the early walls were built
to protect China from the nomads,
historians have tried to explain
why the nomads would raid,
attack, or invade those lands we
conventionally call ‘Chinese.’
Generally speaking, scholars have
produced a number of theories
more or less persuasive, and more
or less supported by the sources.
Some have sought to explain the
nomads’ aggressiveness, for
instance, with a model of nomadicsedentary relations according to
which nomads need to acquire
resources from their agriculturist
neighbors, and would resort to war
or trade to obtain them. Owen
Lattimore himself saw relations
across the frontier strongly
determined by competing societies
that differed dramatically in terms
of environmental adaptation and
economy. Chinese scholars have
seen also in the ‘imbalance’ in the
development of the productive
forces on both sides of the ‘great
wall’ the source of conflicts
originated by the less developed
side, the nomads. At any rate, all
theories converge to agree that the
‘great wall’ was built as a response
to nomadic aggression. To test the
truth of this general apparently
unshakeable belief we then should
ask a most significant question:
what does the evidence actually
say?
Surprisingly, there is no textual
evidence that allows us to establish
a direct cause-effect relationship
between nomadic attacks and the
building of the walls. The evidence
shows, on the contrary, that the
building of walls does not follow
nomads’ raids, but rather precedes
them. If a linkage can be
established in terms of mere
chronological sequence, the
construction of the walls should be
regarded as the cause, not as the
effect, of nomadic incursions.
Secondly, archaeological evidence
does not support the contention
that the walls were protecting a
sedentary population, even less
that they were protecting a
‘Chinese’ sedentary population. In
fact, the early walls did not mark
an ecological boundary between
steppe and sown, nor did they
mark a boundary between a
culturally Sinitic zone and an alien
Fig. 2. The Great Walls.
16
‘barbarian’ region. For the most
part, they were entirely within
areas culturally and politically alien
to China. These simple observations should already suffice to
raise doubts as to the actual
function of the earliest walls. More
doubts are engendered as we
delve deeper into the textual and
archeological evidence.
The idea and technology of such
‘long wall’ military installations is
first found in central and southern
China and associated with states
such as Wei and Chu in the fifth
century BCE. The ‘walls’ built along
the northern frontier constituted an
integrated system of man-made
structures and natural barriers.
The careful choice and use of
topography enhanced greatly the
effectiveness of these fortifications. This system, in addition
to the ‘walls,’ included small as well
as relatively large forts, beacon
towers, look-out platforms, and
watchtowers. Typically, the walls
were made out of stamped earth
and stones piled up in layers to
form a rampart, usually on sloping
terrain, so that the outer part
would be higher than the inner part
(Fig. 3, next page). Moreover,
along the walls archaeologists have
discovered, at regular or irregular
intervals, mounds of stamped
Fig. 3. The Han wall at Yumenguan, showing stamped earth construction.
In mountainous terrain along
precipices and ravines or narrow
gullies, the man-made structures
may be limited to a few towers and
gates blocking a mountain pass.
Roads on the inner side of these
walls served the purpose of
connecting the various garrisons
with strategically important
locations. Beacon towers, also
placed on the inner side of the
walls, were probably used to
communicate between the various
stations, although the system of
communication is unclear (Fig. 4).
Undoubtedly a complex system of
couriers, postal stations, and
checkpoints must have been
operating, and the sheer number
of structures and their spatial
extension suggest that the efficient
use of these early ‘walls’ required
an extensive military presence.
built by Qin, for its entire length,
we find three to four mounds
(raised platforms) per kilometer,
amounting to a total of
approximately 6,300 separate
structures. Throughout the line of
the walls, on the inner side, we
encounter ruins of military
installations. Citadels and forts are
distributed at a distance of three
to five kilometers from each other,
and their internal area may vary
from 3,500 m2 to 10,000 m2. They
are generally walled, though forts
built on steep ravines and gullies
do not have walls, as the natural
topography provided sufficient
protection.
Turning to the evidence
provided by textual sources, some
caveats need to be borne in mind.
The first concerns authorship, or
rather the historical and cultural
context from which the sources
themselves originated. Explicit
earth that are probably the
remains of elevated platforms or
towers. On higher ground, such as
hilltops or even mountain peaks,
small stone structures have been
found, in the shape of platforms,
which are assumed to have served
as look-out posts or beacon
towers. On the inner side of the
wall, at varying distances, we find
a number of additional constructions, in the shape of square
or rectangular enclosures, whose
walls are often made of stone,
believed to be forts garrisoned by
soldiers.
mention of wall building activity by
the northern states is found in the
(Shiji), authored by Sima Qian
around the turn of the second
century BCE, that is, over two
hundred years after the first
northern walls were built, and after
about a century of wars between
the nomadic empire of the Xiongnu
and China. Sima Qian inscribed
such a long and bloody confrontation in a historical pattern
according to which China (variously
indicated as Hua, Hsia, Zhongyuan, Zhongguo, or even ‘the land
of caps and sashes’) and the
nomads constituted two antithetic
poles that had been at odds ever
since the dawn of Chinese history.
Within this pattern Sima Qian
produced an ethnic genealogy,
culminating with the Xiongnu, that
held all the various ‘northern
barbarians’ together as one
coherent narrative unity. As a
result he created a polarization
between a unified north and a
unified south and projected it into
the past. Sima Qian also recorded
names and events whose number
and variety is in itself evidence of
the political and ethnic complexity
of the north. Hence, while it is
essential to remember that the
historical narrative of the northern
frontier is, not, itself, neutral, one
cannot use this argument simply
to dismiss all that it reveals about
China’s relations with the north
during the Warring States period
(for details, see Di Cosmo 2002,
part IV).
Fig. 4. Han beacon tower at Yangguan, west of Dunhuang.
For instance, on top of the wall
17
Moving then closer to the
question of the Great Wall, we
need to ask whether the Shiji, as
our most important historical text,
supports an interpretation
according to which the walls were
established as a military defense.
Or, to put it differently: does the
historical evidence show a
connection between nomadic
threats and wall-building? As for
the state of Qin, the record says
that its king Zhaoxiang (306-251
BCE) began to build walls on the
north-western border after a
military campaign into that
territory, which was inhabited by
a non-Chinese people called the
Yiqu Rong. The pretext of Qin’s
expansion is attributed to a
‘scandalous’ series of events.
Apparently the king of these Yiqu
Rong had illicit intercourse with
the Queen Dowager of Qin, who
bore him two sons. Having grown
displeased with the king, the
Queen Dowager later deceived and
killed him, assembled an army, and
then proceeded to attack and
destroy the Yiqu. Having
conquered the Rong, Qin also
expanded to the north into the
territory within the Yellow River’s
great bend, today’s Ordos region.
In this way Qin acquired extensive
new lands, which became subject
to military administration, or
‘commanderies.’ Only then Qin
‘built a Long Wall to guard against
the Hu.’ (Hu was a generic term to
indicate nomadic steppe peoples.)
The state of Yan was located in the
north-east. During the reign of
King Zhao (311-279 BCE), a
general who had served as a
hostage among the nomads made
a surprise attack against the
Eastern Hu. He defeated them, and
forced them to retreat ‘a thousand
miles.’ Yan then ‘built “long walls”’
and established commanderies ‘in
order to resist the nomads.’ But
this ‘resistance’ followed a military
expansion well into nomadic
territory. The third northern state,
Zhao, also had conflicts with
steppe nomads. The Shiji tells us
that King Wuling ‘in the north
attacked the Lin Hu and the Loufan [both of them are generally
understood to be nomadic peoples
– NDiC]; built long walls, and made
a barrier [stretching] from Dai
along the foot of the Yin Mountains
to Gaoque.’ Thus, Zhao created an
advanced line of fortification, deep
into today’s Inner Mongolia,
encircling the Ordos steppe, then
inhabited by pastoral nomads. I
could find only one passage that
refers explicitly to a state’s need
to protect itself against the
nomads without this being linked
to a previous Chinese expansion.
This is from a debate that took
place in 307 BCE at the court of
the same King Wuling of Zhao
during which the king strove to
persuade his advisors to adopt
cavalry and follow the example set
by the nomads. The king said,
‘Without mounted archers how can
I protect the frontier against Yan,
the Hu, Qin and Han?’ In the
context of the debate, however,
the nomads (that is, the hu people)
were not the only threat to Zhao,
and throughout the whole speech
it is evident that the ‘protection’
argument was accompanied by an
even more pronounced expansionist argument. In any case,
unlike the adoption of cavalry, the
building of walls is not mentioned
in connection with the protection
from nomads or any other enemy.
This is the core evidential
ground based on which scholars
have argued that the northern
walls had a defensive purpose, and
had been erected as a protection
against nomadic attacks. However,
none of these statements says that
walls were constructed as a result
of, or as a response to, nomadic
attacks on Chinese people. What
they say is that the walls were built
to ‘repel’ or ‘contain’ the nomads
after the states had advanced
deeply into their lands, had
occupied their territory, and had
set up military commanderies. The
building of fortifications proceeded
hand in hand with the acquisition
of new territory, the transfer of
troops to this region, and the
establishment of new administrative units. The states of Qin,
Zhao and Yan needed to protect
18
themselves from the nomads only
after they had taken large portions
of territory from them.
Having examined the textual
evidence, let us turn briefly to the
archaeological context. The
material culture of non-Chinese
people in what has been called the
Northern Zone is fairly well known.
Archaeological
excavations
throughout the Great Wall region,
reveal the presence of a large
number of bronze objects, such as
knives and swords, belt plaques,
horse ornaments, and precious
objects. Archaeologists and art
historians have long recognized
this as a fully separate cultural
complex
which
developed
continuously from at least to the
second millennium BCE, and
usually cite among its salient
features a distinctive metallurgical
production and stylistic idiom, in
particular the ‘animal style,’ and
connections with the greater
Siberian and Central Asian
‘Scythian’ art. Some of the most
precious objects, usually in gold,
come from the Ordos region. The
remains of the Chinese walls crop
up for the most part in the middle
of this area, across grassland
plateaus and deserts or in rough
mountainous country. Chinese
Warring States coins, pottery
shards, and lacquered objects have
been found, but the Chinese
presence here at this early time
was limited only to sites connected
with the wall fortifications
themselves, showing that military
colonies and troops were stationed
in an otherwise ‘barbarian’ cultural
environment. For sure the walls
were not built between Chinese
and nomads, but ran, from a
Chinese viewpoint, through a
remote territory inhabited by
foreign peoples. Some of these
peoples were incorporated within
the perimeter of the walls, some
remained outside.
If we wish to understand the
early function of the walls, it is on
the Chinese soldiers that we should
concentrate, not on the Chinese
farmers. Why were the soldiers
susceptible to a purely ideological
interpretation.
University Press, 1989.
Lattimore 1937
About the Author
Nicola Di Cosmo is Professor of
East Asian History at the Institute
for Advanced Study, School of
Historical Studies (Princeton, N.J.).
His main interests are in the history
of frontier relations between China
and Inner Asia, and in the social
and political history of Mongols,
Manchus, and other peoples of
north and Central Asia. His books
include: Ancient China and Its
Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic
Power in East Asian History
(2002); Warfare in Inner Asian
History (500—1800) (ed., 2002);
A Documentary History of ManchuMongol Relations (1616-1626) (coauthored with Dalizhabu Bao,
2003); Political Frontiers, Ethnic
Boundaries and Human Geographies in Chinese History (coedited with Don J. Wyatt, 2003);
and The Diary of a Manchu Soldier
in Seventeenth-Century China
(2006).
References
Lattimore, Owen. “Origins of the
Great Wall of China: A Frontier
Concept in Theory and Practice.”
Geographical Review,
27/4
(1937): 529-549.
Lattimore 1940
Lattimore, Owen. Inner Asian
Frontiers of China. New York:
American Geographical Society,
1940.
Sima Qian 1993
Sima Qian. “Shi Ji 110: The Accout
of the Xiongnu.” In: Sima Qian,
Translated by Burton Watson. 2
vols. Rev. ed. New York, Columbia
University Press, 1993, vol. 2, pp.
129-162. Note: the quotations
above from Sima Qian are my own
translations.
Waldron 1990
Waldron, Arthur. The Great Wall of
China: from History to Myth.
Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1990.
Di Cosmo 2002
Waldron 1995
Nicola Di Cosmo. Ancient China
and Its Enemies: The Rise of
Nomadic Power in East Asian
History. Cambridge: Cambridge
Waldron, Arthur. “Scholarship and
Patriotic Education: The Great Wall
Conference 1994.” The China
Quarterly, 143 (1995): 844-850.
Jagchid and Symons 1989
Xu Pingfang. “The Archaeology of
the Great Wall of the Qin and Han
Dynasties.” Journal of East Asian
Archaeology, 3/1-2 (2001): 259281.
Sechin Jagchid and Van Jay
Symons. Peace, War, and Trade
Along the Great Wall: NomadicChinese interaction through two
millennia. Bloomington: Indiana
Xu 2001
stationed so far to the north, in
alien territory?
The only conclusion that the evidence would
support, in my view, is that the
walls’ and soldiers’ presence in the
northern regions is consistent with
a pattern of steady territorial
growth by the states of Yan, Zhao,
and Qin. They developed the
system of long lines of fortifications
to expand into the lands of
nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples,
and fence them off. Soldiers
defended this territory against
nomadic peoples possibly expelled
from their pastures. This military
push created a pressure on
nomads that in turn led to a
pattern of hostilities. The walls, in
other words, were part and parcel
with an overall expansionist
strategy by Chinese northern
states meant to support and
protect their political and economic
penetration into areas thus far
alien to the Chinese world. This is
consistent both with the general
trend of relations between Chinese
states and foreign peoples and with
the political, economic and military
imperatives facing the Warring
States in the late fourth century
BCE. It was at this time that
northern Chinese states began to
pay attention to cavalry and to
develop mounted warfare, and the
local pastoral people were surely
more suited to this task than the
sedentary Chinese. The walls were,
in other words, part of a system
designed to enclose and establish
exclusive access to a precious
reservoir of human and material
resources at a time when the bitter
struggle among Chinese states had
become deadlier than ever, and
every state was striving to exploit
any means likely to increase its
chances of survival. The walls were
meant as a barrier not only against
dispossessed nomads but also
against competing Chinese states.
As such, the origins of the Great
Wall are closely linked to a military
and political project that will
eventually result in the imperial
unification of China. Recognizing
the historical origins of the Great
Wall does nor diminish its symbolic
power, but hopefully makes it less
The Ming Fortress at Jiayuguan, blocking passage through the Hexi Corridor.
19
Archaeological Investigations of Xiongnu Sites
in the Tamir River Valley
Results of the 2005 Joint American-Mongolian Expedition to Tamiryn
Ulaan Khoshuu, Ogii nuur, Arkhangai aimag, Mongolia
David E. Purcell and Kimberly C. Spurr
Flagstaff, Arizona (USA)
During the summer of 2005 an
archaeological expedition jointly
mounted by the Silkroad Foundation of Saratoga, California,
U.S.A. and the Mongolian National
University, Ulaanbataar, investigated two sites near the
confluence of the Tamir River with
the Orkhon River in the Arkhangai
aimag of central Mongolia (Fig. 1).
The expedition was permitted
(Registration Number 8, issued
June 23, 2005) by the Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science of
Mongolia. The project had multiple
goals: archaeological investigations of the Iron Age Xiongnu
culture in central Mongolia,
instruction of Mongolian university
students and Silkroad Foundation
volunteers in archaeological field
methods, and cultural exchange
between
Mongolians
and
Americans. These activities, far
from being discrete, were
inseparably part of the everyday
activities of the expedition. The
archaeological investigations, and
their results, are the focus of this
article, which is a preliminary and
incomplete record of the project
findings. Not all of the project data
— including osteological analysis of
the burials, descriptions or maps
of the graves, or analyses of the
artifacts — is available as of this
writing. Consequently, the greater
emphasis falls on one of the two
sites. It is hoped that through the
Silkroad Foundation, the many
different collections from this
project can be reunited in a
scholarly publication.
Research Design and Project
Methodology
Central Mongolia contains a rich,
deep, and varied archaeological
record that is, unfortunately,
poorly known outside of Mongolia
and
the
Russian-speaking
archaeological community (cf.
Bessac 1965; Davydova 1968).
Fig. 1. Map showing location of the Tamir River excavations.
20
What is known points to this area
as one of the most important
cultural regions in the world, a fact
recently recognized by the
UNESCO through designation of
the Orkhon Valley as a World
Heritage Site in 2004 (UNESCO
2006). Archaeological remains
indicate the region has been
occupied since the Paleolithic (circa
750,000 years before present),
with Neolithic sites found in great
numbers. As early as the Neolithic
period a pattern developed in
which groups moved southward
onto the steppes from the Taiga,
adopted pastoralism in some form,
and eventually moved south and
west. Whether the movement was
in response to pressure from other
groups to the north or east
(pushing) or new opportunities to
the south and west (pulling)
remains an important arena of
research, but the pattern was
persistent for millennia. The
adoption of metal implements in
the Bronze and Iron Ages appears
to have done little to change this
pattern. The first historically
documented group of the Iron Age,
called the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) by
Han scholars, appears on the scene
around 300 BCE, presaging a
succession of similar steppe
nomads that included the Uighur,
Turks, and Mongols. The Xiongnu
had a complicated and contentious
relationship with the Han, raiding
as well as trading with Han
settlements along the northwestern frontier of China. The
relative degree to which the
Xiongnu political system and its
leaders were dependent on the
Han is the current subject of
heated debate (Barfield 1994; cf.
Di Cosmo in this issue). In an
attempt to address some of the
questions about this relationship,
as well to gather additional
information about the nature of the
Xiongnu culture, the Silkroad
Foundation launched an archaeological expedition to gather new
data.
Ethnic Identity, Material
Culture, and Gorodishche
Specifically, the 2005 expedition
sought information in three areas:
the ethnic affiliation of the
Xiongnu, the affiliation of Xiongnu
material culture with Siberian and
Han
traditions,
and
the
architecture
and
use
of
gorodishche (earthen-walled
structures) by the Xiongnu. Recent
archaeological investigations of
burial populations in Inner
Mongolia and southern Siberia
have identified significant europoid
Caucasian Bronze Age populations,
some as old as the Hirgisur
complex of the Bronze Age (Di
Cosmo 1999). Some readings of
Han texts suggest the Xiongnu
were, at least in part, ethnically
like modern European populations,
a view supported by the recovery
of Caucasian remains from some
Xiongnu graves (Tumen 2005; see
also the article by Batsaikhan in
this issue). Furthermore, some
scholars have suggested that the
Xiongnu, after leaving central
Mongolia, migrated west across the
steppes to the eastern edges of the
Roman Empire, where they were
known as the Huns. Others, noting
that hunnu is a Han term for any
barbaric foreigner, and that the
Xiongnu and Huns are separated
by nearly 200 years in the Han and
Roman accounts, suggest that the
Xiongnu and Huns are two different
groups, albeit of similar nomadic
lifestyles. Addressing this issue
requires better understanding the
ethnic composition of the Xiongnu
and Huns and their material culture
traditions (Di Cosmo 1999; Miniaev
1995). Excavation of Xiongnu
tombs in Mongolia could potentially
provide skeletal remains and burial
goods to address the questions of
ethnic identify and material
cultural. The 2005 expedition
selected a Xiongnu cemetery in the
Tamir River valley, a region from
which a good comparative
collection was excavated in 2003
by a joint Mongolian-Korean
expedition. The cemetery site
selected by the 2005 MongolianAmerican Expedition was named
Tamir 1.
Tamir 1 is located on a
prominent granitic outcrop known
as Tamiryn Ulaan Khoshuu near
other cemeteries of the Neolithic,
Bronze Age, and Mongol periods.
The significance of this place may
derive in part from its prominent
visibility within the Tamir and
Orkhon River valleys, and its
proximity to the broad, wellwatered floodplains of these major
rivers. Investigations from July 20
to August 19, 2005, included the
preparation of detailed maps of the
site using handheld GPS units,
photodocumentation, and the
excavation of five graves at Tamir
1.
The third research question
targeted a site 10 kilometers to the
west of Tamir 1, which we
designated Tamir 2. This site
consists of three enormous
earthen-walled enclosures that
(superficially) resemble structures
excavated during the Soviet era in
the area of Lake Baikal and in the
Selenga River valley of southern
Siberia. A noteworthy project at
the site of Ivolga by Davydova
(1968) suggested that these
gorodishche were fortified,
permanent Xiongnu villages,
containing tightly packed semisubterranean houses, pits, metal
foundries, and possible animal
enclosures. These sites, however,
also contain considerable evidence
for agriculture, in the form of grain
storage pits, large ceramic vessels,
agricultural tools, and grinding
tools. The variety of features and
specialized tools raised the
question: did the Xiongnu practice
agriculture in tandem with
pastoralism (Di Cosmo 1994), or,
21
alternatively, did the Xiongnu
polity incorporate groups with
different lifeways, including
agriculture, hunting and collecting,
and dedicated pastoralism
(Barfield 1981)? The 2005
expedition targeted Tamir 2 (1)
to address whether the site is a
construction of the Xiongnu, rather
than another group or a different
time period, (2) if built by the
Xiongnu, to determine if this was
a year-round settlement (permanent), a seasonal settlement, or
was built for short term occupation
such as fortified refuges, periodic
or seasonal gathering places, or
special functions (i.e. ceremonial),
and (3) to establish the
relationship of this site with the
cemetery, Tamir 1.
Project History
The general goals of the project
were identified in consultations
among Adela Lee, Head of the
Silkroad Foundation, Dr. Albert
Dien of Stanford University, Dr.
Mark Hall of the University of
California at Berkeley, and Dr. Zagd
Batsaikhan of the Mongolian
National University, a noted
authority on the Xiongnu and
author of the definitive work on the
Xiongnu, entitled (in English)
Xunnu. Dr. Hall had worked on a
prior excavation with Dr.
Batsaikhan. The latter had
previously excavated at Tamir 1
and felt that it was a significant
Xiongnu cemetery, likely to contain
additional intact graves. He had
also discovered Tamir 2. The
proximity of the two sites offered
the opportunity to explore all of
the research questions discussed
above, as well as offer students of
the field school opportunities at
survey, mapping, and excavation.
Plans for the project were
initiated in 2004, with field work
to be conducted in the summer of
2005. Dr. Hall made all of the initial
preparations, issuing a call for
volunteers in the fall of 2004. Of
the dozens of applicants, Dr. Hall
selected 14. Unfortunately, just
two weeks before the project was
to take the field, other
commitments forced Dr. Hall’s
withdrawal from the project. The
Silkroad Foundation subsequently
contracted with two of the
volunteers — professional
archaeologists
with
prior
experience running archaeological
field schools — to co-direct the
project for Silkroad Foundation.
Due to scheduling conflicts
resulting from the sudden change
in project supervision, neither
David Purcell nor Kimberly Spurr
was able to participate in the
project for the entire four week
field term.
The Silkroad
Foundation contracted with Dr.
Wang Binhua, a prominent retired
archaeologist formerly based in
The Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous
Region in China, to complete the
project term after Purcell and
Spurr departed, and to provide
additional perspectives on the
Xiongnu tradition from the western
area occupied by the culture and
the archaeological traditions of the
Peoples Republic Of China. Thus,
the 2005 expedition came to have
four archaeological directors and
a field methodology that combines
contemporary trends from three of
the major schools of archaeological
methodology: American, Soviet
(Mongolian), and Chinese. The
methods used in survey, testing,
mapping, and feature excavation
are described below.
Field Methods and
Approaches to Data Collection
Site Survey, Mapping, and
Documentation
Although it was hoped from the
outset that the field school would
include the opportunity for
systematic surface surveys of the
type that form a major part of the
American approach to describing
settlement systems, time and
materials did not allow for this.
Instead, the project focused on
detailed documentation of each of
the sites, with the goal to produce
plan maps of each site showing the
locations of each archaeological
feature, relevant natural features,
and
areas
subjected
to
excavations. David Purcell directed
this part of the field school. Using
a Garmin 12-channel handheld
Global Positioning System (GPS)
receiver, each of the sites was
mapped to scale with 3-5 m
accuracy. During this activity, basic
metric data was collected for each
feature and recorded in tabular
form. Due to the size of Tamir 2,
and to give all project participants
an opportunity to learn site
mapping, the recording resulted in
a site map of the entire settlement
and individual maps of each of the
three enclosures (Figs. 21, 22,
below). At Tamir 1, the density of
graves in the central portion of the
site required that we produce a
detail map of part of the site, in
addition to the overall map. All of
the Mongolian students and
Silkroad volunteers were able to
take part in this activity.
Some surface survey of areas
outside of the sites did take place,
but at an informal, reconnaissance
level. This included a number of
individual and group forays around
Tamir 1 to investigate the many
other grave markers on Tamiryn
Ulaan Khoshuu, which Dr.
Batsaikhan identified as belonging
to Neolithic, Bronze Age, and
Mongol graves (Fig. 2). On one
occasion, Batsaikhan, Purcell, and
Spurr drove north of Tamir 2 to
visit a site with extensive earthen
walls that had been reported by a
local herdsman. A rough GPS map
of this site seems to show that it
is of very different form than Tamir
2, and possibly represents an
animal trap and corral from an
unknown period, rather than a
habitation area.
Test Excavations
The 2005 expedition further
investigated Tamir 2 through a
series of systematic and
judgmental test excavations. The
systematic tests consisted of 1 x
1 m hand units placed on a 50 m
grid within Structure A of Tamir 2.
Fifteen of these units were
excavated to 20 cm below the
22
surface to, or slightly into, a
culturally sterile calcic soil. The
development of such soils typically
requires many millennia, with their
formation likely pre-dating the
Xiongnu occupation. The test units
were located by reference to the
GPS coordinates, and thus have a
potential locational error of 3-5 m.
Relocating these units would be
almost impossible for subsequent
researchers, so each unit was lined
with plastic sheeting and a metal
object (coin, or other small trinket)
was placed in the bottom center.
The units will, therefore, be
identifiable with a metal detector
and the actual location of the unit
could be precisely plotted with
reference to a site grid placed with
a transit, theodolite, or total
station.
Each test unit was laid out with
respect to the cardinal directions.
Since topographic maps of the
project area were not available to
the 2005 expedition, Purcell set
true north declination on his
compass to 9° W, the alignment
of the western wall of Structure A.
The GPS-derived plot of this wall
is 4° E declination, indicating that
the builders of Tamir 2 sought to
orient their layout to the true
cardinal directions, not magnetic.
GPS north is slightly askew from
True North.
For each volunteer, Purcell then
provided instruction on how to set
up an excavation unit, make sure
that it is square, set a datum for
vertical measurement controls,
and excavate using hand tools.
Each unit was excavated in
arbitrary 10 cm levels. Unfortunately, screens were not
Fig. 2. Surface remains of a BronzeAge (?) grave on a slope facing
Tamiryn Ulaan Khoshuu.
available to sift the soil for small
artifacts that are often
overlooked when excavating.
Profiles were then drawn of the
exposed soil stratigraphy in
selected units (those that
exhibited useful stratigraphy)
and plan maps were drawn of
the bottom surface of the unit
if it exposed a cultural feature
or artifact. Selected units were
also documented through digital
photographs.
To investigate the architecture
of the gorodishche, three
judgmentally selected test
excavations were made in
Structure B. These consisted of a
1 x 1 m unit (TU 17) placed in a
long, low swale that extends partly
across the interior of the structure,
a 1 x 1 m unit (TU 16) placed
within the interior southwestern
corner of the wall, and a 1 x 1 m
unit (TU 19) placed in a gap of the
southern
wall
near
the
southeastern corner. All were
excavated in arbitrary 10 cm levels
initially, with TU 19 being
excavated in natural levels below
20 cm. TU 17 exposed what
appeared to be a natural cobble
and gravel deposit and was
discontinued at 6 cm (Fig. 3). TU
vertical walls and rectangular
plan of TU 18 suggests that it
was excavated by archaeologists, rather than looters.
Dr. Batsaikhan was unaware of
who would have conducted such
an excavation.
Feature Excavations
Fig. 4. Test Unit 16, Tamir 2 site.
sequence within the wall proper
(Fig. 5). A possible post hole was
observed in profile in the east end
of this unit, perhaps part of a
palisade wall or gate.
Photo © David E. Purcell 2005
16 exposed what appeared, at
first, to be molded dirt (adobe)
bricks, and was expanded with 1
x 1 m units to the north and east;
these proved to be natural drying
cracks in melted construction dirt
that has collected at the base of
the wall (Fig. 4). Expanded to 1 x
3 m, TU 19 exhibited a series of
four cultural fills of visually
distinctive colors that appear to
represent the construction
The excavation of individual
archaeological features was the
final activity undertaken in 2005,
and the primary focus of efforts at
Tamir 1. The approach followed
methods used previously by Dr.
Batsaikhan at this and other
Xiongnu sites, with slight
modifications at two of the
features. Using a compass set to
magnetic north, the visible feature
(a low rock ring) was divided into
quarters along the cardinal
directions using string lines, which
extended at least 1 m beyond the
edge of the rock ring. Vegetation
and overlying dirt was cleaned (Fig.
6) from the northwestern quarter
first, followed by the northeastern,
southeastern, and southwestern.
A balk, or untouched strip of soil
20-30 cm in width, was left
between each of the quarters (Fig.
7, next page). Using metric graph
paper, each exposed stone of the
grave surface was then drawn to
scale with a string mapping grid,
drawing a block 5 x 5 m at a time.
The northwestern quarter was
illustrated first, and upon
completion of the map of that
section, the rocks were removed
and discarded, and a 2 x 2 m
excavation unit was established at
the center of the section, with the
balks forming two of the edges.
Each feature quadrant was treated
Test Unit 18 consisted of
cleaning and profiling the walls of
a rectangular pit found near the
center of Feature 1 (Structure B),
in the top surface. The pit
measured approximately 1.35 x
1.0 m. After cleaning the pit walls,
layers of brightly colored soils and
an older, in-filled pit or shaft, were
visible. Some of the layers are less
than 5 cm in
thickness,
and
alternate regularly,
suggesting
the
periodic renewal of
the exterior surface
of the mound. The
old pit or shaft was
slightly north of TU
18, and may have
Photo © David E. Purcell 2005.
been an ancient
looters’ tunnel. The
Fig. 6. Cleaning the rock ring of Feature 201,
Tamir 1 site.
conspicuously
23
at Features 160 and
201. At Feature 201,
each of the quarters
was
undertaken
simultaneously with
clearing the vegetation and overburden. During the
removal of the rock
fall from the grave
monument, large
quantities of animal
bones were observed
mixed with the rock,
as well as ash and
Photo © David E. Purcell 2005.
charcoal, concentrated beneath an
Fig. 7. Partially exposed rock ring of Feature 160,
Tamir 1 site, view along balk to south.
upright boulder at the
southeastern edge of
in this manner, sequentially. The the ring (a possible headstone).
excavation units were excavated The northeastern and southeastern
approximately 1 m in depth, with quarters and part of the
the fill being discarded, to expose southwestern quarter were then
the opening of the grave shaft excavated carefully by hand to
proper.
After two adjacent expose a deposit of burned,
quarters had been opened in this butchered horse bone, associated
manner, profile maps of the balks with a few artifacts. At Feature
were drawn to illustrate the 160, excavation proceeded in
stratigraphy of the upper portion halves, not quarters, due to its
of the grave shaft and the small size. At both features,
collapsed grave monument. The vertical data were established and
balks were removed once all of the elevations were recorded for the
profiles are drawn, and the grave present ground surface, top of the
shaft fill was removed as a single grave monument, grave shaft
stratum down to the tomb. The opening, and individual points
grave contents were exposed, within the graves. The balk profiles
excavated
by
hand,
and of both features were drawn from
photographed before being level lines, with the entire grave,
removed to complete excavation shaft included, profiled in sections
of the grave. Photography was approximately 2 m in thickness.
undertaken almost entirely by Unfortunately, due to a misSilkroad participants, although not communication, only the upper
in a systematic fashion; typically, meter of the grave shaft was
photographs were taken when an documented in this manner before
interesting find was uncovered and the rest of the grave shaft fill was
announced. Once the entire grave shoveled out. The deeper profiles
had been completely excavated, documented the fill sequence of
the skeleton and grave goods were the graves , a procedure that was
replaced in their positions and a followed by the 2003 Mongolianfinal map of the grave was drawn. Korean Expedition. In addition, in
Vertical controls were not used at Features 109, 201, and 160, most
Features 97 or 100, including the artifacts or features found in the
use of a vertical datum, level lines graves or grave shafts were
for the balk profiles, or recording mapped and vertical elevations
of vertical elevations. Limited recorded as they were exposed,
vertical control was undertaken at and each find was exhaustively
Feature 109.
photodocumented by Dan Waugh,
David Purcell, and other project
Purcell initiated several participants. As noted above, this
modification to these procedures program of photography was
24
inconsistently applied.
Excavated artifacts were
removed to the expedition camp
as soon as they could be safely
taken from the ground, and were
stored in the expedition laboratory
in a ger that was erected in camp.
In this location, artifacts were
cleaned, photographed, and
illustrated. Dan Waugh systematically documented every
substantial, and many of the less
complete, artifacts through
photographs taken in relatively
controlled lighting.
RESULTS
Tamir 1 - The Cemetery
Tamir 1 consists of 287 graves
visible on the surface as torusshaped low mounds of rocks
clustered on a south-facing slope
around the head of a series of dry
washes that are tributary to the
Tamir River. Documentation of
Tamir 1 entailed the preparation
of two maps, and completion of a
table that recorded the size,
condition, orientation, and
attributes of each grave. One map
completed in 2005 is a plan of the
entire site, shown in relation to the
natural drainage system; the other
is a detailed plan view of the
densest portion of the cemetery.
The cemetery encompasses 560 x
390 m, an area of 21.8 hectares.
Each grave was documented as a
‘feature’
and
numbered
sequentially from 1-290 (three
numbers were omitted). The
surface expression of the graves
ranged from 2 m in diameter to
12 m, with an average of 4.6 m
(n=273) and modes of 4.0, 5.0,
3.0, and 6.0 m (in order of
frequency). The median feature
diameter is 4.5 m, (n=269).
Thirty-one of the graves exhibit
single boulders set upright in the
ring of rocks, often on the
southeastern or northeastern
edge, perhaps marking the head
of the grave (headstones). The
graves located closer to the Tamir
River floodplain appear to be
smaller in diameter, in closer
Feature 97 contained a nearly
complete, but disarticulated,
human skeleton and a cache of
grave goods at the foot of the
grave (Fig. 8) that included a
bronze and iron cauldron, a
lacquerware bowl with a gilt brass
rim (see images, next article), an
oil lamp, and several ceramic jars.
There was also group of decorative
metal and bone objects that may
have been horse tack decorations,
a bone and metal bit, and a
wooden toggle. Two or possibly
three other lacquer vessels, less
well-preserved, were also present
but disintegrated before being
documented or described.
Fig. 9. Cloth (carpet?) fragment with
embroidered design. Feature 100,
Tamir 1 site.
Feature 109 was a tomb showing
evidence of two looters’ shafts, but
still held a partially intact wooden
lining and the disarticulated and
obviously disturbed remains of one
individual. The funerary offerings
that had been overlooked by the
looters included a gold earring (less
the inset stones) (Fig. 10), a
turquoise jewelry setting, two
fragments of a large white bronze
TLV mirror (Fig. 3, p. 37), three
cast glass beads (Fig. 11), a
possible iron knife with lacquered
25
Photo © National University of Mongolia, Department
of Anthropology and Archaeology 2005
Fig. 10. Gold earring. Feature
109, Tamir 1 site.
Feature
100
contained
an
articulated skeleton
within the remains
of a poorly preserved wooden shaft
liner. Associated
grave goods included a complete white
bronze TLV mirror
(Fig. 1, p. 36), two
ceramic jars, a
fragment of cloth
(Fig. 9), a ceramic
spindle whorl, a
complete oil lamp,
Fig. 8. Feature 97, Tamir 1 site (clockwise from upper
bronze
metal
left): bronze cauldron with iron base, pot, lamp, aniclothing plaques
mal bones, gilt ring of lacquer bowl, resting on pot.
including possible
proximity to one another, and more buttons, a carnelian (?) bead, a
densely clustered than are graves bronze cauldron, and a bronze (?)
located higher on the slope, farther coil-like object of unknown function
from the river ’s edge. Dr. (possibly a core for a string of
Batsaikhan previously excavated in coins).
Tamir 1, but the site has also been
subjected to unscientific and
unauthorized
excavations,
including several graves observed
in 2005 that appeared to have
been very recently looted. Five
graves were completely excavated
by our expedition in 2005:
Features 97, 100, 109, 160, and
201. Excavation revealed that the
rock rings were once continuous
mounds of rocks piled over the
grave shaft, but with the settling
of the grave and shaft fill through
time, now appear to be mounded
rings of cobbles.
Fig. 11.
beads.
ture
Tamir 1
Glass
Fea109,
site.
wooden handle (Fig. 12, next
page), and various rusted iron
objects. Despite the later digging
in the tomb, handholds and
footholds were identified by Dr.
Wang in the shaft walls as having
been cut during the graves initial
excavation, providing ingress and
egress for the excavators.
Feature 160 exhibited a looter’s
shaft in the profile of the grave
shaft; at the bottom of the looter’s
shaft was the displaced cranium
from the burial (Fig. 13, next
page). Quantities of charcoal were
scattered throughout the grave
It is possible that
these rocks had
been placed on the
top wooden boards
of the coffin (no
longer extant). The
lowest layer of the
coffin walls was
intact, and there
seemed to be traces
of a pattern of a Fig. 15. SE wall of coffin, sherd of jar
carpet that might visible in center. Feature 160, Tamir 1
have been laid on site.
Fig. 12. Iron knife with handle of lacquered wood.
the ground below intact grave with a fully articulated
Photo in situ, approx. 310 cm. depth (© Daniel C.
the body. At the SE skeleton in situ, except for the
Waugh); sketch of possible original appearance (©
end of the coffin was cranium, which was found on the
David E. Purcell). Feature 109, Tamir 1 site.
a separate compart- NW side toward the feet.
ment (Fig. 15) Associated grave offerings included
containing two ceramic jars and a a string of Han Dynasty wushu
possible cooking vessel, and just coins (Fig. 17), found in the
inside the coffin
were remains of a
lacquerware vessel
(Fig. 16). Beyond
the NW end of the
coffin some vertebrae, probably of a
sheep, were found.
Apart from the skull
(see above), the
middle section of
the skeleton was in
the presumed original position laid NW
to SE. However, the
mandible had been
displaced and was
Fig. 13. Skull in Feature 160,
found in approxiPhoto © Daniel C. Waugh 2005
Tamir 1 site.
Fig. 16. Pots, charred vessel and remains of lacquer
mately the pelvic
bowl (lower right). SE end of grave, Feature 160, Tamir
shaft starting around a depth of area, a result pre1 site.
50 cm and continuing to the sumably of the
bottom. At 231.5 cm the action of the looter. The grave
excavation revealed a rectangular goods included a complete bronze
of
possible
local
rock “lining” of the grave with a mirror
rock pile in the center (Fig. 14). manufacture (Fig. 5, p. 38), a
metal earring, a
ceramic spindle
whorl, four stone
beads, assorted
iron objects including possible belt
buckles/plaques, all
badly corroded,
and traces of at
least one additional
lacquerware object.
Feature 201 was
also an apparently
Fig. 14. Feature 160, Tamir 1. Rock “lining” of grave.
26
Fig. 17. A string of wushu coins
on a metal ‘core.’ Feature 201,
Tamir 1 site.
Photo © National University of
Mongolia, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology 2005
plain at Hermental, westnorthwest of Tamir 1. The plain is
a part of the Tamir Valley that is
bounded by ranges of hills to the
west, north, and east, and extends
in a long slope that gradually
flattens to the south where it
merges with the floodplain of the
river. From Tamir 2, Tamiryn Ulaan
Khoshuu is a dark, prominent
Fig. 18. Jar in Feature 201,
landmark on the horizon to the
Tamir 1 site.
east-southeast. The expedition
remains of what was apparently a mapped the structures at Tamir 2
lacquered box, 13 clothing toggles and produced plan view maps of
or clasps of bronze (?) with some each structure individually, to show
traces of fabric wrapping, at one detail, and of the three together
intact large ceramic jar (Fig. 18) to show their relationship. During
and sherds of a second one, an iron the collection of the UTM
coordinates with the
GPS receivers, the
site was traversed
many times on foot,
with detailed notes
recorded about the
form, condition and
orientation of the
gorodishche.
No
dating
Fig. 19. Bronze and lacquer handle for an eared cup. artifacts
before the modern
Feature 201, Tamir 1 site.
period were obbase for a cauldron or standing served, other than a single pottery
lamp, a compound bronze and sherd observed (but not collected)
lacquerware object (Fig. 19),
apparently the handle of a
lacquered eared cup, from which
additional fragments remained,
and various iron objects including
a belt buckle. One iron ring or clip
was found within the burned horse
offering in the rock tumulus above
the grave, as were a few sherds.
on the top of an earthen mound
(Feature 1) within Structure B. No
artifacts or buried features or
cultural deposits were exposed in
the test units. This seems unusual,
in light of Davydova’s (1968, p.
217) comment that Xiongnu
settlements of Mongolia differed
from Ivolga in containing large
quantities of (roof) tile, a fact that
she attributed to ‘some other type
of dwelling, different from those
of the Ivolga gorodishche.’
The soils consisted of two
strata. Stratum I, the uppermost,
is a medium brown silty sandy
loam, humic, containing abundant
rootlets and some fine gravel. It
is 8-20 cm thick and uncompacted.
Its contact with the underlying
Stratum II is typically horizontal
(occasionally undulating) with an
indistinct 1-2 cm thick contact
zone. Stratum II is a compact pale
brown sandy loam that exhibits a
Stage I-II calcium carbonate
development. It extends from 820 cm below the present ground
surface to an undetermined depth.
It contains variable quantities of
gravel, up to small cobble-sized.
Tamir 2 - The Gorodishche
Three gorodishche or earthenwalled fortifications, labeled
Structures A-C from west to east,
form Tamir 2 (Figs. 20, 21). The
enclosures extend in an east-west
line 1,725 m across a broad, gentle
Fig. 21. Overview plan map of Tamir 2, depicting the spatial relationship of the
three gorodishche (structures). Numbered forms within the enclosing earthen
walls are large earthen mounds, to which arbitrary feature numbers were
assigned. Breaks in the walls are apparent formal gates and other cuts or
gaps in the continuity of the walls. (Drawing © David E. Purcell 2005)
Fig. 20. Panorama (composite of three photographs) of Tamir 2 settlement site, taken at 7:15 PM from point at altitude
of 1455 m looking SW by W along length of site.
27
All rocks exhibit a 3-6 mm rind of
calcium
carbonate,
with
projections from the downward
surfaces. Most of the rocks are
schistic metamorphic. Stratum II
contains significantly less moisture
than does Stratum I.
Three hand excavation units
were judgmentally placed in or
near architectural features (such
as walls and gates) to expose
details of their construction, and
were in some cases expanded to
follow interesting deposits. These
are described above. The previous
excavation on the central mound
in Structure B was also cleaned and
profiled (TU 18), providing details
of its construction. No artifacts
were recovered from any of the
judgmental units. Given the vast
areas encompassed by each of the
gorodishche — ranging from 7.2
hectares in Structure C to 16.3
hectares in Structure A — the
absence of findings by this very
limited testing is not surprising.
What is surprising, however, is the
complete lack of surface or
subsurface artifacts. Further
research is necessary to establish
the age and cultural associations
of these features through
archaeological means, despite
their apparent similarity to other
features east of Ulaanbataar
previously studied by Dr.
Batsaikhan.
Structure Descriptions and
Interior Features
Structure A, the westernmost of
the three enclosures, measures
490 m east-west by 450 m northsouth in maximum dimensions.
The enclosing wall is 16-18 m in
width and appeared to vary from
0.5 m to 2.0 m in height above
the interior ground surface, with a
shallow ditch visible at the base of
the wall on the exterior, except in
three locations that correspond
with gaps in the wall. Nine
locations along the wall exhibit
visible dips or reductions in
elevation, four of which extend to
the interior ground level, providing
grade-level access to the
structure’s interior. Major gaps
appear in the approximate centers
of each of the walls, with those on
the north and east walls at grade.
The gaps on the south and east
walls feature visible ramps
extending from the gap down to
the exterior, over the ditch. The
gaps in the east, west, and south
walls are flanked by sections of the
wall that are broader at the base
and higher in elevation than
surrounding sections of the wall;
these three openings appear to
have been formal gates. The east
and west walls also feature gaps
at grade level that are not regularly
spaced along the wall. These may
represent more recent cuts to
provide access, but additional
research is needed to fully describe
the construction and modification
sequences of these features. The
north wall exhibits three shallow
gaps, in addition to the gap in the
wall center, which is at grade but
is blocked on the exterior by the
ditch The ditch appears to have
been a borrow ditch for soil used
to build the enclosing walls, but
also appears to have functioned as
a dry moat, based on its placement
to the exterior of the wall. Each
corner of Structure A stands 0.4
to 1.0 m higher than contiguous
sections of wall, and is much
broader at the base, forming a
swell that extends outward 4-5 m
beyond the walls. These may have
been the bases for tower-like
elevated features, or bastions.
Structure A contains five
earthen mounds of various shapes,
ranging from nearly square to
nearly circular. The largest,
Feature 1, stands nearly 3.5 m
above the ground and is near the
center of the structure, in line with
the gates on the east-west and
north-south axes. The other
mounds stand 0.9 to 1.4 m above
the surrounding ground. Feature
5 has a small square rock
alignment on top, and Feature 1
has a rock ring or ovoo base near
its center. A possible earthen ramp
slopes down the eastern end of
Feature 3. A low swale or ridge
links Feature 1 with Feature 4;
28
whether this is a natural or
constructed feature was not
determined. An iron pipe was
found standing upright in the
southeastern ‘tower’ of Structure
A.
Structure B is the central earthen
enclosure, nearly square in shape,
measuring 455 m east-west by
440 m north-south to the outer
edges of the ditch (Fig. 22, next
page). Its construction is similar
to that of Structure A, with gates
visible in the north, east, and south
walls, with accompanying towers.
The north wall includes two shallow
gaps equidistant between the
corners and the central gate. The
south wall exhibits two shallow
gaps but without regular spacing.
The west wall exhibits a shallow
gap in the wall center, but without
flanking mounds, and a grade level
opening to the south. Only the
north and south gates and the
southern gap in the west wall are
at grade level. The Structure B
walls are also enclosed by a
shallow (15-20 cm deep) ditch,
which is continuous around the
exterior except at the south gate,
which spans it. Six interior earthen
mounds were documented, as well
as a seventh, low mound that may
be natural. Like Structure A, the
largest mound (Feature 1) is near
the center, in line with the gates.
This mound stands approximately
2 m above the ground, but exhibits
a much more formal shape in plan
that did Feature 1 of Structure A.
It is rectangular with obvious
ramps that extend east and west
toward the gates. A cluster of
small boulders and a rectangular
pit were found on top; a single
potsherd was found within this pit,
which was cleaned and profiled to
document the mound construction
sequence. The upper portions of
the mound, based on this profile,
appear to have been made of
alternating layers of brightly
colored soils. The arrangement of
the interior features — with a small
circular mound (Feature 4) south
of Feature 1, and two other
mounds in the southeastern
quadrant (Features 2 and 3) — is
of the enclosure. A
possible borrow
ditch/moat, 5 cm in
depth, is visible only
around the northeastern wall corner
exterior.
Four
earthen mounds
were observed in
the interior, with the
largest (Feature 1)
near the center,
standing approximately 4 m in
height, the tallest of
any feature documented at Tamir 2.
To the southeast are
three other mounds
(Features 2-4) that
range in elevation
from 0.6 to 1.6 m
above the ground.
No other features
were observed. The
lower walls, near
absence of a ditch,
and less pronounced
encircling walls may
indicate that this
structure is older
than the other two;
the more pronounced wall feaFig. 22. Tamir 2, Structure B detail plan map. Elevations are GPS-derived (WGS 84 Datum),
tures of Structure A
with a 3-5 m potential error. Relative heights are estimated above the surrounding ground
may indicate that it
surface level, which slopes north to south. (Drawing © David E. Purcell 2005)
is the youngest of
nearly identical to that observed compared with contiguous wall the three, and that the gorodishche
at Structure A. Structure B, segments. The Structure B walls were constructed over a relatively
however, also includes a low are 16-20 m in width and 1.2-1.75 long time period in order from east
to west.
mound almost in-line with, and m in height.
near, the east gate (Feature 5),
and another mound just east of the Structure C is the easternmost SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER
north gate (Feature 6). The low enclosure. It is rectangular in plan, RESEARCH: METHODS AND
mound that was not assigned a measuring 335 m east-west by GOALS
feature number is just east of the 275 m north-south. The walls are
south gate, but stands barely 20 10 m in width and 20-60 cm in The results of the 2005 Expedition
cm above the surrounding ground. height. Gaps are present in the do not ‘solve’ the problems of the
A low ridge extends north- walls, but follow no apparent central Mongolian Iron Age.
westwards from Feature 4 to the regular scheme of placement, with Indeed, few individual archaewest wall; this was tested (Test a single gate in the east wall ological projects have the ability
Unit 17) and found to be a natural center, and pairs of gaps in the to dramatically change existing
gravel deposit. However, the siting other three walls. The gaps are not models. The acquisition of
of Feature 4 at its end appears to flanked by earthen mounds, and archaeological data usually
have been deliberate. The wall only the northwestern and produces incremental results, in
corners exhibit mounds of dirt, northeastern wall corners exhibit that the results of any one
possible towers/bastions, but the mounds of dirt; the southern individual project, combined with
corners do not form pronounced corners do not, and the entire years of research in a given area,
swells and the mounds are southern wall is approximately 20 together reveal strong patterns
relatively low in elevation cm lower in elevation that the rest that suggest the signatures of
29
cultures, periods, and transitions.
Once patterns have been
delineated, then subsequent
individual projects can contribute
through the recovery of more
specific data that supports, refutes,
or refines the model. For example,
the finding of a certain type of
diagnostic artifact in association
with datable materials may supply
a date for just that artifact type or
for an entire phase, depending on
the context.
Xiongnu settlement was located
nearby. If Tamir 2 was that
settlement, our efforts so far
cannot even substantiate that
Tamir 2 was ever inhabited like
Ivolga, much less that it was
associated with the cemetery. To
date none of the graves at Tamir
1 reveal the complex structures
and richness of goods found in
excavations at Noin Ula, Gol Mod
and Tsaraam (on the last, see the
article by Miniaev in this issue).
Several types of artifacts
recovered from the graves of Tamir
1 appear to be important finds,
particularly the TLV mirrors
recovered from Features 100 and
109, the glass beads from Feature
109, and the lacquer bowl from
Feature 97.
The specific
significance of the mirrors is
described at length by Prof. Lai
elsewhere in this issue. In general,
however, the richness and size of
the graves, in comparison with
other Xiongnu graves excavated by
Drs. Batsaikhan and Wang,
suggest that this cemetery (Tamir
1) may represent the final resting
place of more important or wealthy
Xiongnu individuals. The orientation of the heads to the east
rather than the typical north
orientation, greater number of
ceramic vessels, and the relative
lack of military hardware are also
unusual aspects to Tamir 1.
However, the degree to which
ancient grave robbing has affected
the composition of the grave goods
cannot be evaluated at this time.
Some graves, such as Feature 109,
were clearly looted many centuries
ago, leaving only those artifacts
overlooked or discarded (such as
the broken mirror) by the robbers,
and skeletal remains in disarray.
What is then difficult to explain are
objects such as the golden earring
from Feature 109, which appears
to have been stripped of its jewels,
but was left in the grave, probably
by accident. Given the site’s
location in the Orkhon Valley, it is
tempting to speculate that this
cemetery was used by the elite of
Xiongnu society, perhaps indicating
that an important or central
Clearly, much additional
research needs to be conducted at
Tamir 2, which perhaps should
become the focus of future efforts.
The size of the site, its apparent
lack of artifacts, and its relative
proximity to Tamiryn Ulaan Khusuu
suggest that it too, is an important
place, but its function remains
unknown. A military purpose, is
suggested by the existence of the
walls and the presence of apparent
fortifications along them. Future
research needs to be directed at
(1) establishing the age of the site,
(2) identifying and excavating
features within and outside of the
walls, (3) comparing the site
architecture with other earthenwalled structures of the central
Mongolian steppes, (4) recovering
materials that link the site with
Tamir 1 or with other sites in the
region, and (5) conducting regional
settlement analysis to better
understand the types and
placement of other sites in the
region.
Much of the research at Tamir
2 will need to be accomplished
using remote sensing methods,
including aerial and satellite
photographs, on the ground
systematic survey, and remote
prospecting for features in and
around the site itself. It is clear
that pedestrian surface survey, as
practiced in the western United
States, is not appropriate for the
Mongolian steppes, given the lack
of visible artifacts on the surface,
the vast areas to be examined, and
the nature of the known types of
sites. Some pedestrian survey
should be conducted in support of
30
careful review of aerial and satellite
photos and systematic survey
using horses, camels, or vehicles.
Such surveys could easily be
carried out by following GPS
gridlines, looking for visible
features. Areas around recorded
sites and in proximity to eroded
surfaces should be inventoried
more intensively on foot,
systematically following GPS
gridlines. A check of Google Earth
revealed that Tamir 2 is not visible
due to low resolution; higher
resolution images need to be
examined. If publically accessible
images of this region are not
available, it would be worth having
aerial photos flown of this area,
after obtaining the needed
government permission.
The interior, and the exterior
perimeter, of Tamir 2 should be
examined using ground penetrating radar, magnetometer, and
electrical conductivity instruments.
Any subsurface features, including
our test units, pits associated with
recent herder camps, and ancient
features such as houses, storage
pits, etc. should be apparent.
Remote sensing is now used
routinely in some settings, and the
cropped grass of the steppes is
ideal for the use of all of these
methods. Interior features, such as
houses and pits, were readily
visible on the ground surface at
Ivolga as low mounds with upright
stone slabs and depressions; the
gorodishche at Tamir 2 did not
exhibit any of these indications of
buried features. Systematic test
excavations are not recommended,
as hundreds or thousands would
have to be excavated to complete
even a small, and probably not
statistically valid, sample of just
one of the structures. One of the
structures should be completely
mapped by remote means; based
on the results, the other structures
may be sampled in areas where
features are likely. The sheer size
of these structures suggests that
they were built, at least in part, to
shelter herds of animals, so
features may not be present in
large sections of them. Given the
placement of the interior mound
features that are visible, it is
expected that some sort of internal
partitions or fences may have been
used to divide the interior space,
although the form of such a fence
is unknown. Excavations of
possible features should be
undertaken to ‘ground truth’ the
findings. However, fine mesh
excavation screen must be part of
any further program of test
excavations, in order to catch small
objects. Often artifacts as large as
coins can be missed, and coins are
very important for dating sites in
this area.
Tamir 1 also yielded important
information, particularly about the
types of artifacts that might be
expected at this cemetery in future
excavations, particularly the laquer
vessels. Preparation for subsequent excavations of graves should
include having on hand appropriate
conservation materials and
methods to salvage intact these
priceless artifacts for further study
and display. Future projects should
also be better prepared to
transport fragile artifacts and
human remains back to Ulaan
Bataar, by including sturdy boxes,
plastic tubs, and other packing
materials as part of their field
equipment. In situ mapping of the
graves as finds are made, with
recording of vertical elevations, is
highly recommended as part of
standard operating procedure.
This will make the collected data
compatible with current standards
in use around the world. Another
arena in which more rigorous field
methods should be applied is the
collection of soil and plant samples
for analysis. Advances in the study
of preserved pollen, plant remains,
wood species and dating,
radiocarbon dating, and faunal
remains have greatly enhanced the
current knowledge of subsistence,
trade, burial and religious
practices, and chronology. A
central tenet of historical
archaeology is to test the archival
record against the physical
remains of the past and to
illuminate the lives of individuals
or groups not described by the
official chronicles, especially the
poor and those of minority or
dispossessed status.
The use of 3-D laser scanning
of the graves is also recommended, but not strictly necessary.
This type of mapping uses
computer-controlled lasers to
measure to sub-millimeter
accuracy the forms of features and
their contents; this could include
the surface expression of the
collapsed grave monuments, the
grave and grave shaft, and the
skeleton and associated funerary
objects. The advantage of this
approach is that it generates an
electronic dataset that can be
output as a virtual illustration of
the feature, or even used to create
an exact scale model of the
feature. Such an approach is
desirable if public interpretation
and presentation of data is a
component of future projects. For
example, a Xiongnu grave model
could be generated from such data
and installed in the Mongolian
National University, or presented
to the public on line or modeled in
relief and displayed publically.
Laser scanning also supports the
creation of web-based displays
that allow viewers to manipulate
their point of view via the Internet.
The overall impression of the
sites investigated by the 2005
expedition is that these are
important places within one of the
cultural cradles of the world’s
civilizations. Within a 60 km radius
are the Uighur capital, the Qidan
capital, the Mongol capital, and
the burial sites of the Türk leaders
Bilge Qaghan and his brother
Kültegin. Does the Orkhon Valley
also hold the Xiongnu capital, and
are Tamir 1 and 2 somehow
associated with it? These are just
some of the exciting questions that
the 2005 expedition has raised,
and as with all good science, we
are now left with more questions
than answers, and more questions
than before we undertook the
project.
31
About the Authors
David Purcell and Kimberly
Spurr are professional archaeologists who live in Flagstaff,
Arizona. They graduated in 1993
with Master ’s degrees in
anthropology from Northern
Arizona University and have
worked in a variety of settings
since. Purcell has worked for
contract archaeological research
companies and is currently
employed as Principal Investigator
and Projects Manager by Four
Corners Research of Tularosa, New
Mexico. He also works as the
Coordinator of the KaibabVermilion Cliffs Heritage Alliance,
a non-profit organization dedicated
to research, preservation, and
interpretation of the cultural
heritage of the region of Arizona
lying north of Grand Canyon. Spurr
worked for the Navajo Nation
Archaeology Department for 13
years, leaving this summer to form
Past Peoples Consulting, LLC,
which specializes in the study of
human remains and burials, in both
archaeological and forensic
settings. She directed the
preliminary phase of a multi-year
investigation of a Paleoindian site
in North Dakota this summer, and
will also work with the Museum of
Northern Arizona to excavate sites
along the Colorado River in Grand
Canyon this coming fall.
References
Barfield 1981
Thomas J. Barfield. “The Hsiungnu
Imperial
Confederacy:
Organization and Foreign Policy.”
Journal of Asian Studies, 41/1
(1981): 45-61.
Bessac 1965
Frank Bessac. “Review of
Mongolian Archaeology.” Asian
Perspectives, 8/1 (1965): 141147.
Davydova 1968
A. V. Davydova. “The Ivolga
Gorodishche (A Monument of the
Hsiung-nu Culture in the Trans-
Baikal Region).” Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum
Hungaricae, 20 (1968): 67-245.
Di Cosmo 1994
Nicola Di Cosmo. “Ancient Inner
Asian Nomads: Their Economic
Basis and Its Significance in
Chinese History.” The Journal of
Asian Studies, 53/4 (1994): 10921126.
Di Cosmo 1999
Nicola Di Cosmo. “The Northern
Frontier in Pre-Imperial China.” In:
The Cambridge History of Ancient
China. Ed. Michael Loewe and
Edward L. Shaughnessy. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 1999, pp. 909966.
Korean-Mongolian 2002
Mon-Sol tosliin 5 zhil: Tusgai
uzesgelen/Korean-Mongolian Joint
Expedition in Mongolia 1997-2001:
Special Exhibition. Ulaanbaatar:
Mongolyn Undesniy Tuukhiin
Muzey, 2002.
Miniaev 1995
Sergei Miniaev. “The Excavation of
Xiongnu Sites in the Buryatia
Republic.” Orientations, 26/10
(1995): 44-45.
Okladnikov 1990
A. P. Okladnikov. “Inner Asia at
the Dawn of History.” In: Denis
Sinor, ed. The Cambridge History
of Early Inner Asia. Cambridge,
etc.: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1999,
Ch. 3.
Tumen 2005
Tumen Dashvereg. “Paleoanthropology of Eastern Mongolia.”
Mongolian Journal of Anthropology,
Archaeology and Ethnology, 1
(242) (2005): 72-91.
UNESCO 2006
UNESCO. World Heritage List:
Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape.
Electronic document <http://
w h c . u n e s c o . o r g /
pg_friendly_print.cfm?cid=31&id_site
=1081&> accessed June 28, 2006.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
The Challenges of Preserving
Evidence of Chinese Lacquerware in Xiongnu Graves
Daniel C. Waugh
The University of Washington,
Seattle (USA)
This brief communication may
serve as an appendix to the report
by David Purcell and Kimberly
Spurr on the Tamiryn Ulaan
Khoshuu excavation in 2005. My
goal is not to provide a scholarly
analysis of the abundant evidence
we uncovered of Chinese
lacquerware — I lack the expertise
to do that — but mainly to
document it and to highlight the
challenges which must be
addressed if such evidence from
future excavations is to be
properly preserved and studied.
One is struck by the frequency
with which lacquerware (or at least
traces of its existence) is reported
in excavations of Xiongnu graves
and also the apparent lack of its
serious analysis. The term can,
of course, encompass a variety of
objects of different composition,
ranging from those merely
decorated with a resin-based paint
to objects made of layers of wood,
clay and/or cloth impregnated with
lacquer and then covered with
additional layers of paint. With
notable exceptions, the evidence
from Xiongnu graves is of
surviving paint layers or
fragments, not intact objects on
which the paint was applied. As
was the case in our
Tamir excavations,
such survivals may
end up being ‘preserved’ primarily in
the photographic
record, although this
should not always
have to be the case.
sonably well preserved Chinese
lacquerware in Xiongnu tombs are
the ‘eared cups’ (Fig. 1), painted
table legs, chopsticks and an
animal-shaped pouring vessel
found in the excavations at Noin
Ula in northern Mongolia. Indeed,
the inventories of the Noin Ula
graves are full of references to
lacquered objects (Rudenko 1962,
pp. 117 ff.; pls. VI, XLVIII; Trever
1932, pls. 27, 29-31). As is well
known, the circumstance of the
graves having been flooded there
resulted in remarkably good
preservation of organic material,
including carpets, clothing, a wide
variety of wooden objects, and
much more. The eared cups at
Noin Ula are of particular interest
here: at least one of them had both
bronze handles and an inscription
dated 2 BCE indicating its
manufacture in Sichuan, the major
location of Han lacquer production
(Dschingis Khan, nos. 16, 17, pp.
50-51).
At Tamir 1, evidence of lacquer
was found in at least four of the
five excavated graves, in all cases
the designs being in red (or
orangish red) and black. Where
possible, it was photographed in
situ, but with one exception, none
The best known Fig. 1. Lacquerware eared cups excavated at Noin Ula.
examples of rea- Collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
32
might subsequently be flattened
and pieced together remains to be
seen. Should the designs be of any
value for identification, at least a
visual record has been preserved.
of cloth and clay (Fig. 8). A
Chinese inscription (wishing good
fortune) was found on what was
probably the interior bottom of the
bowl (for analogous examples on
eared cups, see Zhongguo 19931998, pp. 44, 5253). David Purcell
has drawn a reconstruction of the
bowl, based partly
on the photographs
(Fig. 9, next page).
Fig. 5. Remains of lacquer vessel, middle of S side
of grave. Feature 97, Tamir 1 site.
Fig. 3. Fragment of lacquer object
(after removal) from SE end of Feature 97, Tamir 1 site.
Fig. 8. Inner side of a fragment of
the metal-rimmed lacquer bowl
from Feature 97.
sel at SE corner of coffin, Feature 97, Tamir 1 site.
Fig. 7. Detail of preceding.
in the SE end, near
the head of the
deceased (fig. 3); in
the
SE
corner,
probably an eared
cup (fig. 4); midway
along the S side of
the coffin, another
bowl or cup (fig. 5);
on top of the array
including pots and a
cauldron, a bowl with
a gilded brass rim
Fig. 2. A box of lacquer fragments from Feature 201,
(figs. 6, 7). The
Tamir 1 site.
latter was best
of what we might term ‘reasonably preserved, with some large
intact’ lacquer objects could be fragments that retained the layers
preserved. Once exposed to the
air, the paint layers begin to dry
and curl. Given their fragility,
some means of immediately
sealing them and enclosing them
in appropriately shaped packing
would be required. Thus, absent
such means, the surviving lacquer
ended up further fragmented in a
jumbled collection in a box (Fig.
2). Most of the larger fragments,
especially those with painted
designs, were then photographed
and packed, but whether they
Fig. 4. Remains of lacquer ves-
Here is a brief summary of the
lacquerware finds at Tamir 1:
Feature 97. The grave contained
at least four lacquerware objects:
33
Feature 109. The
most striking lacquered object found
here was the iron
knife with a lacquered wooden
handle depicted
above (Fig. 12, p.
26). Unfortunately,
by the time it was
photographed in
situ, the paint
fragments
had
already dried and
curled. The knife
was at a level above
Fig. 6. Remains of lacquer bowl with gilded
brass rim. Feature 97,
Tamir 1 site.
Fig. 10. Lacquer fragment from near
NW end of grave in Feature 109, Tamir
1 site.
Feature 201. The remains of a
lacquerware vessel were wrapped
partly around the large, intact jar
in the NE corner of the grave,
Fig. 11. Lacquer fragment that had
been wrapped around large pot in
NE corner of Feature 201 grave.
Feature 160. There was at least
one lacquered vessel at the SE
corner of the grave, inside the
coffin (Fig. 13, next page). A
reasonably large portion of the
paint had been preserved. With
the approval of Prof. Wang
Binghua, we used a hastily
improvised technique of trying to
remove it intact, by laying
cardboard down on the top and
Photo © Mongolian National University, Department
of Anthropology and Archaeology 2005
that of the actual burial and near
the NW end of the grave,
suggesting it might have been
displaced and dropped there when
the grave was looted. At least one
red lacquerware vessel (Fig. 10)
seems to have been located in the
NW end of the grave below the
knife but above the level where
one of the bronze mirror fragments
was found and in an area where
there was a collection of various
animal bones (the position is
analogous to that of the bowl with
gilded rim in Feature 97). Some
additional fragments were found in
what would have been the location
of the waist of the corpse.
Fig. 9. Lacquerware bowl discovered with Feature 97 grave goods, shown at 36.7
percent of actual size. The rim band was recovered (Bag 65), but the bowl
disintegrated within hours of exposure. The drawing was prepared directly from
the vessel fragments and from high resolution digital photographs taken by Dan
Waugh. Original drawing and illustration by David Purcell.
alongside where the head of the
corpse would have been located
(Fig. 11). The most substantial find
was that of an eared cup, where
one bronze handle with its lacquer
inset was preserved along with a
sizeable piece of the paint layer
for the bowl (Fig. 12; also Fig. 19,
p. 27 above). Its exact location in
the grave is not clear to me but
presumably was recorded. The
design on the lacquer inset of the
handle is somewhat similar to that
on the dated cup found at Noin Ula.
In approximately the center of the
grave, there was what appears to
have been a lacquered wooden box
in which the small string of wushu
coins was found. It is worth noting
that pieces of a lacquered box were
also found at Noin Ula. Lastly, I
would note what seemed to have
been the dark “shadow” left by a
lacquered object approximately in
the location where the head of the
corpse would have been at the SE
end of the grave.
Fig. 12. Remains of a lacquerware eared cup with a metal handle (at top),
photographed in situ. Feature 201, Tamir 1 site.
34
this latter location
was that of a
lacquered vessel.
While it is difficult
to know with any
certainty the original
location and substance of most
objects which left
fragments of lacquer
in the graves, we
have enough evidence to suggest
that Chinese lacquerware was both
a readily available
and a valued commodity among the
Xiongnu buried at
Tamir 1. It seems
likely that each
Fig. 13. Remains of lacquerware bowl (s) SE corner
grave contained
of coffin. Feature 160, Tamir 1 site.
more than one
then slicing under it with a trowel lacquerware bowl, the locations in
and inserting another piece of the first instance being either at
cardboard to create a ‘sandwich’ the head of the grave (at Tamir 1,
that encompassed all that this means the SE end), in the
remained of the cup. When this pelvic area either directly on or
was done, the object had already next to the corpse, and in the
begun to deteriorate from the grave goods piled to the north of
drying and curling of the paint the feet (the NW end of the coffin).
layer. There was also substantial While eared cups appear to have
other evidence of lacquer in the been common enough, the bowl
grave, notably in the center of the with the gilded rim and the remains
SE end near the bulkhead that of the lacquer-handled knife are
separated the compartment with unusual finds (for the bowl cf.
the pots, and in the pelvic area at Zhongguo 1993-1998, p. 174).
the center of the grave, where
there were both part of what
More systematic photography
appeared to be the bottom disk of and measurement would help
a bowl and paint layers intermixed considerably in documenting the
with the bronze mirror and lacquerware. I was able to
spinning weight (Fig. 14) . It undertake that primarily in
seems quite certain that at least Features 97, 109 and 160 but was
absent at the point
where the metalrimmed bowl in
Feature 97 was
emptied of the dirt
in it and its surviving fragments
removed. While
some of the bestp r e s e r v e d
fragments of that
bowl (which would
have helped in
Fig. 14. Lacquer fragments (indicated by arrows) with
bronze mirror (left) and spinning weight (right). Feaanalyzing its structure 160, Tamir 1 site.
ture) were those
35
still lodged in the underside of its
rim, by the time it was brought
back to camp, most had fallen out.
It is conceivable that careful
emptying of the bowl (spoonful-byspoonful, grain-by-grain) would
have revealed more of the body
intact, but we now have no visual
record of what was there.
Presumably there are methods for
preservation which could be
applied at the time such lacquer is
first uncovered. Even short of
sophisticated technical means
(such as a transparent resin or
moldable foam), a technique
similar to that used in Feature 160
might be adopted to preserve
those pieces which have been
flattened and can be isolated from
other finds. This rather crude
approach would not have worked,
of course, for the bowl in Feature
97, since it preserved in situ much
of its original curvature.
By the time excavation of the
graves had been completed and
the objects found in them laid out
for a final drawing that then served
as a documentary “map” of their
contents, what lacquer there was
had been further fragmented, if
preserved at all, and any traces of
where it had been eliminated when
the floor of the pit was scraped
down. Laying back in place
fragments of lacquer (as opposed
to bones, metal objects, etc.) was
not part of the process of the final
mapping of the grave (and in the
circumstances could not have
been).
While the location of the lacquer
might help flesh out our knowledge
of burial ritual, the odds in fact are
good that most lacquer fragments
in Xiongnu tombs would be useless
for analysis, unless a technique
exists or can be devised to pinpoint
origin or date from their chemical
composition. We would certainly
wish to know what can be learned
from the painted designs on the
lacquer, something that perhaps
could be accomplished if the huge
corpus of Han-era lacquer is
systematized. Whether that will
reveal anything about the date of
our Xiongnu graves or the
particular external connections of
those who occupy them is hard to
know.
Daniel Waugh is a retired professor
of history at the University of
Washington, where he taught premodern Russia and courses on
Central Asia, including a survey of
the Silk Road. He has participated
in Silkroad Foundation summer
institutes in Dunhuang and the
Tamir excavation in Mongolia and
edits the Foundation’s journal. One
of his principal tasks in retirement
will be to maintain the Silk Road
Seattle
website
<http://
depts.washington.edu/silkroad>, a
project for which he is the founding
director.
References
Dschingis Khan 2005
Dschingis Khan und seine Erben.
Das Weltreich der Mongolen.
Munich: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle
der
Bundesrepublik
Deutschland; Hirmer Verlag, 2005.
Miniaev 1998
S. S. Miniaev. Dyrestuiskii
mogol’nik. Arkheologicheskie
pamiatniki Siunnu, vyp. 3. St.
Petersburg: Evropeiskii dom,
1998.
Rudenko 1962
S. I. Rudenko. Kul’tura khunnov i
Noinulinskie kurgany. MoscowLeningrad: Izd-vo.
Akademii nauk SSSR, 1962.
Trever 1932
Camilla Trever. Excavations in
Northern Mongolia (1924-1925).
Leningrad: J. Fedorov, 1932.
Watson 1995
William Watson. The Arts of China
to AD 900. New Haven; London:
Yale University Press, 1995, esp.
Ch. 6.
Zhongguo 1993-1998
Zhongguo qi qi quan ji. Zhongguo
mei shu fen bi quan ji. 6 vols.
Fuzhou, 1993-1998. Vol. 3. Han.
Photos © Daniel C. Waugh 2005
The challenges of preservation
which we faced and were not
equipped to solve were certainly
not unique. Dr. Miniaev has
recorded many instances of
fragments of red lacquer in his
excavations of the Dyrestui
Cemetery (Miniaev 1998). He has
mentioned in correspondence that
one of the most pressing priorities
in preserving the important finds
at Tsaraam on which he reports in
this issue is to conserve the
lacquerware, which there includes
a wooden staff of interesting
design. There is a good reason for
the lack of systematic analysis of
the lacquerware in Xiongnu tombs,
for the majority of the evidence
simply disappears; it is only the
relatively intact pieces which have
a chance of surviving.
About the Author
Fig. 1. The bronze mirror from Feature 100, Tamir 1 site.
36
The Date of the TLV Mirrors
from the Xiongnu Tombs
Guolong Lai
University of Florida,
Gainesville (USA)
The first specimen from Feature
100 is a beautifully decorated
intact mirror about 10 centimeters
in diameter (Fig. 1, facing page).
It belongs to a type referred to as
‘TLV’ mirrors in Western Sinological
literature, because the shapes of
the main decorative elements on
the back of the mirrors resemble
the Latin letters T, L, and V. At the
center of the back of the mirror is
a hemispherical knob pierced for
a ribbon or textile cord, to facilitate
the holding of the mirror (Fig. 2).
The knob is surrounded by a
square center field (also
called knob-seat), which is
decorated with a large,
Fig. 3. TLV mirror fragments
from Feature 109, Tamir 1
simple quatrefoil. The main
site.
decorative zone is framed
between the center square
and two outer bands, one a
narrow band with a comb-tooth cast inscription (Fig. 4), which
pattern and the other a wide rim reads:
ornamented with three concentric
… do not know aging; when
rings with a saw-tooth pattern.
thirsty, [they] drink from the
Four pairs of T’s and L’s are placed
spring of jade; when hungry,
on two perpendicular axes through
[they] eat of jujubes. [They]
the mirror’s center point, while the
roam…
four inverted Vs are located at the
upper outside corners of the four
quadrants thus created. On the left According to similar inscriptions
and right sides of each T are placed (see below), it appears that these
two nipples; two birds, in elegant descriptions refer to the immortals
simple relief, stand on either side dwelling in a transcendental
of each inverted V. Furthermore, paradise. Mirrors of this type are
comma-shaped curves and short significant not only because they
lines punctuate the spaces
between these elements. The
overall design of the mirror is
perfectly symmetrical, simple, and
elegant.
The second specimen (this one
from Feature 109) is a fragment
of another TLV mirror, further
broken into two pieces that were
found in different locations in the
tomb (Fig. 3). The main decorative
zone is largely
missing; only one
corner
of
the
fragment has the
elements of the L
and V and a pair of
birds with long tails.
This mirror is larger
than
the
one
excavated from
Feature 100. Unlike
the intact one from
Feature 100, this
fragmentary mirror
Fig. 2. Center of TLV mirror from Feature 100,
bears a section of a
seen from an angle.
37
In the summer of 2005, the
Silkroad Foundation and the
Mongolian National University
conducted their first season of joint
excavation at a Xiongnu cemetery
in Arkhangai aimag in Central
Mongolia. Among their findings
were three bronze mirrors. After
describing them, I shall focus in
this short essay on the first two,
TLV
mirrors
of
Chinese
provenance. My goal will be to
establish their date in the context
of a broader discussion of the
problems of dating bronze mirrors
but not to attempt an examination
of other issues such as HanXiongnu relations.
Fig. 4. Section of TLV mirror from
Feature 109, showing inscription.
collections
and
museums (Bulling
and Drew 1971-72).
The problems
with these sources
have been further
exasperated by the
preference of collectors for mirrors
with inscriptions
containing dates,
which in turn only
encouraged the
Fig. 5. Detail of mirror from Feature 160, Tamir 1
production of fake
site.
dated mirrors. As a
result of this siturepresent the best specimens of
ation,
the
mirror
chronologies have
bronze production in the Han
been
skewed,
because of the
period, but also because their
reliance
of
scholars
on inscriptions
inscriptions reflect changing
with
dates
(Loewe
2001-2).
Many
religious ideas in early China.
distinguished scholars, including
The third mirror, from Feature the Japanese scholar Umehara
160, is about 7 centimeters in Sueji, who were connoisseurs of
diameter (Fig. 5). It is intact, but Chinese mirrors, were clearly
its craftsmanship is rather poor, aware of the situation and had paid
compared with that of the other particular attention to the issues
two. The decorative scheme is of forgery. Yet in the end, they too
barely discernible. Only a small were occasionally duped by fakes.
knob is found at the center of the
mirror back. This type of mirror
seen in Xiongnu tombs is most
likely a low-quality, local imitation
of Han mirrors.
The chronology of bronze
mirrors, along with dating by
coinage and pottery vessels buried
in tombs, have been important
methods used in cross-dating early
Chinese and Xiongnu burials.
However, the dating of bronze
mirrors is a thorny issue for
scholars of Chinese art and
archaeology. Almost all of the
existing chronologies have
included in their studies clearly
spurious pieces or other mirrors of
dubious origins (Umehara 1943,
Bulling 1960, Okamura 1984 and
1993, except Zhou 1986; see also
the discussion in Cammann 1961,
Bulling 1962, Cammann 1962).
Bronze mirrors have been highly
valued and collected since the
North Song dynasty (960-1126).
As a result of their high value,
forgeries and replicas have been
produced – some of which have
found their way into private
Fortunately, in the last half
century, many bronze mirrors have
been discovered under scientifically-controlled archaeological
excavations in China. It is now
possible to establish a chronology
of bronze mirrors solely based on
archaeological materials. Since the
1950s, all studies of Han mirrors
have incorporated, to different
degrees, the newly available
archaeological materials (Loewe
1979); yet so far no systematic
and methodologically rigorous
study that utilizes exclusively
excavated specimens has been
attempted. We will have to wait to
see
how
significantly
an
archaeologically-based new
chronology would differ from the
extant chronologies. Though a full
reinvestigation of the chronology
of Han bronze mirrors is beyond
the scope of this essay, some of
the issues involved in dating TLV
mirrors will be mentioned below.
In my examination, I shall consider
only excavated materials.
Long having been the focus of
Japanese, Chinese and Western
38
scholarship on bronze mirrors, the
TLV mirror consists of the basic
motifs of the letters T, L, and V.
They used to be referred to as
guiju mirrors in Chinese literature
(J: kiku), because it was
considered that the V and L
resembled the compass (gui) and
a carpenter’s square (ju). Early
scholarship focused on the
connections between the TLV
mirror and the sundial (Yetts 1939,
pp. 148-165) and between the TLV
mirror and the diviner’s board (shi)
(Kaplan 1937), for several
specimens of sundials and diviner’s
boards were available for
comparison at the time.
As many scholars later realized,
however, these motifs actually
constitute the board of an ancient
game called liubo, a popular
pastime among the elite during the
Warring States and Han periods
(Yang 1947; Komai 1953). Thus
scholars have suggested that the
TLV mirrors should be renamed as
boju, ‘game board,’ mirrors (Zhou
1987). But the Japanese scholar
Hayashi Minao commendably
insisted that although the TLV
pattern shared many similarities
with the liubo game board, it is not
a game board per se; rather the
TLV mirror, the liubo game board,
and the sundial, all share the same
cosmographical
symbolism
(Hayashi 1989, pp. 8-9; also
Cammann 1948, pp. 160-1). It
now becomes clear from
archaeological evidence that there
was more than one type of liubo
game board in early China, and the
configuration of those are slightly
different from that of the TLV
mirrors (it has only four V’s and
two L’s, and six I’s; see Li 2002).
Thus it is inappropriate to equate
the liubo game boards with the TLV
motif. In current Japanese
literature, the TLV mirror is still
called a kiku (Ch: guiju) mirror. For
convenience and consistency, and
because it is more descriptive
rather than interpretational, I shall
use TLV to refer to these mirrors
throughout this essay.
Fig. 6. One of the six TLV
mirrors excavated in
Hunan (the largest, 14.4
cm). After Zhou 1986, No.
2, p. 106.
and other princely
kingdoms of the Han
dynasty. Some of the
earliest known examples are six inscribed
bronze mirrors excavated from an early
Western Han tomb in
Hunan province (the
largest d. 14.4 cm)
(Fig. 6), in which TLV
mirrors with dragon
arabesque (panchi)
decoration were found
with funerary coins — clay
imitations of real coins of Emperor
The TLV pattern appeared on
the liubo game board earlier in the
Warring States period,
but it did not appear on
bronze mirrors until the
early Han dynasty. The
Swedish scholar Orvar
Karlbeck, an avid
collector of early
Chinese
bronzes,
speculated that the TLV
motif on bronze mirrors
was first introduced by
Liu An (?179-122 BCE),
the Han prince of
Huainan, who was
famous for his keen
interest in astronomy
and cosmology and who
patronized the compilation of a comprehensive astronomical,
topographical, and
philosophical treatise
called Huainanzi (cited
from Bulling 1960, pp.
20-21). However, it Fig. 7. Bronze mirror from Mancheng M2, d. 18.4 cm.
appears in archaeological records that the Wen’s reign (r. 179-156 BCE) —
introduction of the TLV motif onto for the dead to use in the afterlife
mirror decoration was earlier than (Zhou 1986, p. 70). Similar clay
Liu An’s time, and the cosmological coins also appeared in the famous
significance of the decorative motif Mawangdui tomb no. 1 (datable to
was more widely appreciated in shortly after 168 BCE), roughly
Han society than in the small circle contemporaneous with Emperor
of Liu An’s court.
Wen. These examples show why
The TLV mirror was popular not
only in Liu An’s court in Huainan
but as well in the imperial court
Fig. 8. Bronze mirror excavated from
Louzhoucheng in Hebei province. After Louzhoucheng 2000, p. 186.
39
coinage is often more accurate for
dating the burials, because in
many cases buried coinage is in
large quantities and was the
currency of the time. This type of
TLV mirror lasted into Emperor
Wu’s reign (140-87 BCE). A
famous example, with the same
inscription as the Hunan mirror, is
the one discovered in the tomb of
Dou Wan (d. ca. 113 BCE) (Fig.
7), the consort of Emperor Wu’s
elder half-brother Liu Sheng (d.
113 BCE), at Mancheng in Hubei
province.
The TLV motif also appeared on
other types of mirrors, such as the
so-called caoye ‘grass-leaf ’
mirrors, named after the leaf-like
decoration found on the back of the
mirrors. The specimen in Fig. 8 is
a mirror (d. 11.6 cm) discovered
in Tomb no. 23 in the Western Hanperiod cemetery near Louzhoucheng, Qichun, Hubei
province. Similar mirrors have also
been discovered in Shaanxi,
Sichuan, and Yunnan (Kong 1992,
pp. 203, 204, 206).
The majority of extant TLV
mirrors are associated with a
decorative motif called sishen,
‘four spirits,’ the four imaginative
animal symbols of the cardinal
directions (along with the color
symbolism): the Green Dragon of
the East, the White Tiger of the
West, the Vermillion Bird of the
South, and the Dark Warrior (a
combination of a tortoise and a
snake) of the North. Developed
during the Warring States and Han
periods, these creatures often
filled the spaces between the T’s,
characteristics: 1)
one mirror carries an
inscription specifically
dated 10 CE, the
second year in Wang
Mang’s reign (Loewe
2001-2, pp. 240-4);
2) the others either
mentioned
the
important political
events during Wang
Mang’s reign, such as
the establishment of
the idealized Confucian ritual structures Biyong and
Mingtang; 3), or
contain the formula
‘Wangshi zuo jing’
(‘The Wang family
has
made
the
Fig. 9. Bronze mirror excavated in Xi’an. After Cheng mirror ’);
4), or
and Han 2002, fig. 38, p. 132.
another formula ‘Xin
you shantong’ (‘The
L’s, and V’s. Since the spaces Xin has good copper’).
between the T and the L on the
axes are often too narrow to fit the
Because Wang Mang’s dynasty
animals, they are often moved off has long been considered
the axis to fill the eight spaces illegitimate, and his usurpation was
flanking the four inverted V’s. Such condemned in the subsequent
is the case in the TLV mirror Chinese history (especially during
excavated near Xi’an, Shaanxi the Eastern Han dynasty), it seems
province (Fig. 9). As a result, the reasonable to assume that 1) the
four spirits were elaborated into Han imperial workshops would stop
eight figures; in addition to the four producing mirrors with explicit
spirits, there are a bird, a toad, a association with the Xin dynasty
goat, and a winged immortal. The after the fall of Wang Mang; 2)
Xi’an mirror was buried together later mirror manufacturers and
with a type of coinage (‘xiaoquan consumers would also consciously
zhi yi’) minted only during Wang avoid this association. If these two
Mang’s currency reform during the statements could be proved valid,
Xin dynasty (9-23 CE), an then those mirrors with an explicit
interregnum between the Western reference to the Xin in their
and Eastern Han dynasties. Thus, inscriptions would be a good
the combination of the TLV and the indication of their date.
‘four spirits’ motif and its variations
marks the regular, or classical, TLV
Tomioka’s theory was accepted
mirror in early China.
immediately by scholars in Japan
as well as in China; no one has
In the 1910s, Japanese scholar questioned the validity of the two
Tomioka Kenzô published several assumptions.
Furthermore,
articles, arguing that the word ‘xin’ Takahashi Kenji attempted to
(‘new’) which appeared on ten extend Tomioka’s conclusions by
inscribed TLV mirrors actually arguing that mirrors with similar
referred to the Xin dynasty, inscriptions found in Japan were
established by the usurper Wang also manufactured during Wang
Mang. Thus, these mirrors could Mang’s era (Takahashi 1919). But
be dated to Wang Mang’s time Umehara Sueji soon pointed out
(collected in Tomioka 1920). These that Takahashi’s assertion
mirrors have the following contradicted the material evidence
40
found in ancient Japanese tombs
in which these mirrors were
discovered, and he emphasized the
importance of paying particular
attention to mirror typology
(whether it was a TLV mirror,
pictorial mirror, etc.) in applying
Tomioka’s theory. Umehara further
pointed out that the regular type
of TLV mirror was not limited only
to Wang Mang’s reign, but instead,
it ranged from the late Western
Han to the Eastern Han and even
later (Umehara 1919).
In retrospect, Tomioka’s theory
is marred, however, b y the
questionable examples he used.
First, as Michael Loewe has
pointed, the 10 CE mirror is of
dubious provenance. Among all the
extant inscribed TLV mirrors, only
two have precisely dated
inscriptions; and both of them are
likely counterfeit (Loewe 2001-2,
pp. 240-5). Second, only three
mirror inscriptions, as far as I
know, refer to the establishment
of the Biyong and/or Mingtang;
and the doubtful 10 CE mirror is
one of the three. One of the other
two is now in the collection of the
Shanghai Museum (Kong 1992, p.
323). In my opinion, the
authenticity of it is also questionable. Most importantly, there
is no scientifically excavated mirror
bearing the references to the
establishment of either the Biyong
or the Mingtang. The absence of
corroborative archaeological
evidence does not necessarily
mean that the mirrors in question
are fakes. But this should at least
alert us to do more investigation
regarding the authenticity of the
mirrors. We should exercise utmost
caution for those mirrors of
unknown provenance when their
authenticity is not backed up by
comparable
archaeological
materials.
Third, although the formula
‘The Wang family has made the
mirror’ is attested on excavated
mirrors, these mirrors are either
not TLV mirrors or are datable to
a much later period in the Eastern
Han dynasty. Such is the case for
the pictorial mirror excavated in
Yangzhou, Jiangsu province (Wang
et al 1985, p. 95). As Umehara
noted above, the ‘wang’ on bronze
mirrors did not necessarily refer to
Wang Mang and his dynasty.
Fourth, the references to the ‘xin’
or ‘xinjia’ (the Xin family, i.e.
the Xin dynasty) or the
formula ‘the Xin has good
copper ’ on mirror inscriptions are not always an
indication that these mirrors
could be dated to the Xin
dynasty. For example, a
bronze mirror from a private
workshop excavated from
Hunan that archaeologist
Zhou Shirong dates to the
middle of the Eastern Han
period bears the following
inscription (Zhou 1986, no.
80. p. 143):
some low-quality mirrors bearing
the formula ‘the Xin has good
copper’ are dated to the Eastern
Han rather than Wang Mang’s era
(Higuchi 1953). Therefore, the
second assumption on which
Tomioka based his theory could not
With these caveats added, now
we can test the rest of Tomioka’s
theory using archaeological
evidence. One example is a TLV
mirror of high quality excavated in
Hunan. It has the following
inscription (Fig. 10):
The Xin [dynasty] has good
copper, which comes from
Danyang, it is refined…;
this excellent mirror
manufactured in the
Shangfang
[i.e.
the
imperial workshops] is truly
very skillfully made, above
are the immortals who do
not know aging; when
thirsty, [they] drink from
the spring of jade; when
hungry, [they] eat of the
jujube. [They] roam about
all under the heaven and
swim the four [seas].
The Du family has made
the mirror, which is greatly
without blemish; the Xin
has good copper, which
came from Danyang; it is
Fig. 10. Bronze mirror excavated in Hunan.
refined with silver and tin,
It seems that the first half of
After Zhou 1986, no. 52, p. 124.
and it is pure and bright;
the inscription was truncated
to the left the Dragon and to
and followed immediately by
be viewed as valid, since there are
the right the Tiger eliminate the
another set of inscriptions. In
cases in which later private mirror
inauspicious; may you forever
general, mirror inscriptions are
workshops still used the formulae
prosper and have joy without
often formulaic; that is, set
referring to the Xin after the fall
end.
phrases were picked and chosen
of Wang Mang.
to create a new inscription. It
probably reflects the operation of
The use of ‘xin’ and ‘wang’ in a certain modular system in
the inscriptions even after the fall designing mirror inscriptions and
of Wang Mang deserves further mirror motifs (see Ledderose
exploration. The use of the family 2000). And sometimes carelessly
In this inscription, the mirror
name Wang could be a pure two sets of inscriptions were
designer mistakenly exchanged
coincidence since Wang has been discretely put on the same mirror.
the characters for yang (in
a common family name in China, What interests us here, in addition
‘Danyang’) and xiang (in ‘buxiang,’
and there is no evidence to the similar content on our mirror
‘inauspicious’). Although there is
suggesting that this Wang refers from Feature 109, is the word ‘xin’
the reference to the Xin, the
to Wang Mang. The use of the at the beginning of the inscription.
content of the inscription and the
formula ‘The Xin has good copper’ Although it is sometimes misarchaeological context suggest
in private workshops could have takenly translated as ‘in recent
that this mirror be dated to the
just followed the formula and times’ (Cheng and Han 2002, p.
middle Eastern Han rather than to
models created during Wang 107), its reference to the Xin
Wang Mang’s time. Admittedly, this
Mang’s imperial workshop for dynasty is clear when we contrast
is also not a TLV mirror. This again
commercial reasons. But on the it with another formula of a similar
supports Umehara’s aforeother hand, the first assumption TLV mirror of the early Eastern Han
mentioned qualification to
still seems to be valid. I am not period (Fig. 11, next page), which
Tomioka’s rules.
aware of any case of similar carries the following inscription:
Furthermore, Higuchi Takayasu’s research indicates that
reference to the Xin on products
from the Eastern Han imperial
workshop.
41
The Han [dynasty] has good
copper, which comes from
Danyang; it is pure and bright.
of TLV mirrors could
be dated to the Xin
dynasty; furthermore,
on stylistic ground,
mirrors with similar
decorative scheme
could be datable to
the Xin dynasty.
Japanese scholar
Fujimaru Shôhachirô
has attempted to use
a typological method
to refine the TLV
mirror chronology by
distinguishing the late
Western Han TLV
mirrors from those of
the Xin dynasty and
later (Fujimaru 1982).
He divides the deFig. 11. Early Eastern Han bronze mirror. After
corative elements into
Zhou 1986, no. 59, p. 130.
four categories — the
To the left the [Blue] Dragon
rim decoration, the saw-tooth
and to the right the [White]
band, the number of the nipples,
Tiger rule the four quarters.
and the inscription. He classifies
Eight sons occupy the center.
different known TLV mirrors
The Vermilion Bird and the Dark
according to these categories.
Warrior conform to the Yin and
What he found is an interesting
Yang forces.
pattern of correlation: the TLV
mirrors have four nipples and with
or without the four animal figures
are always decorated with plain rim
with oblique comb-tooth between
This mirror is of high quality. the rim and the main decorative
Similar examples bear the zone. He called this group Type A
inscription ‘Shangfang,’ the mirrors. And the Type B mirrors
imperial workshop in charging of always have eight nipples and
the production of bronze and various rim decorations. Then he
lacquer utensils for imperial
consumption. Although the basic
formula created during the Xin
dynasty is still in fashion, here ‘the
Han’ replaces ‘the Xin’ in order to
avoid the connection with Wang
Mang’s Xin dynasty. In some cases,
the formula ‘The Xin has good
copper’ changed to ‘Here is good
copper, which came from Danyang’
(Fig. 12).
Through the above analysis, it
seems clear that imperial
workshops of the Xin dynasty did
create the classical TLV mirrors
with formulae such as ‘The Xin has
good copper.’ Therefore this type
Fig. 12. Eastern Han bronze mirror.
After Zhou 1986, no. 63, p. 133.
42
looked at the elements of the A
and B types on non-TLV mirrors,
and found that the Type A
elements (four nipples, plain rim,
and oblique comb-tooth band) are
shared by many Western Han
mirrors, while the Type B elements
belong to the Wang Mang and the
Eastern Han period. Thus, TLV
mirrors with plain rim and four
nipples could be dated to the late
Western Han period. This is largely
corroborated by archaeological
data from Luoyang in Henan
province (Fujimaru 1982, 939940). Archaeological materials also
confirmed that, as Umehara and
Higuchi pointed out, that regular
TLV mirror lasted into the Eastern
Han period; and after the middle
of the Eastern Han, simplified TLV
mirrors
appeared
in
the
archaeological record, many of
them produced in private
workshops rather than in the
imperial workshop of the Eastern
Han dynasty.
According to their stylistic
characteristics, the two TLV mirrors
excavated from the Xiongnu tombs
belong to the classical TLV mirrors,
and are datable to the Xin dynasty
or to the early to middle Eastern
Han period. An example similar to
the complete mirror from Feature
100 was found at Shangsunjiazhai,
Datong in Qinghai in a brickchambered tomb of the early to
middle Eastern Han
period (Fig. 13, next
page). The Shangsunjiazhai mirror is about
11 cm in diameter, and
decorated with a simple
quatrefoil knob-seat
and three rings of sawtooth pattern on the
rim. In the main
decorative
zone,
among the TLV motifs,
there are eight birds on
both sides of the four
Vs, which is the same
as those on the mirror
from Feature 100.
There is no clear
indication of the
ethnicity of this tomb
occupant, but in a
evidence for the Xin or
early Eastern Han date
of the fragmented
mirror , since this was
the time when the cult
was at its peak.
In this essay, I have
discussed the date of
two
TLV
mirrors
excavated from the
Xiongnu tombs in
Central
Mongolia
through a reexamination of previous
theories on dating the
TLV mirror. The extant
chronology of early
Chinese mirrors should
be rigorously reinvestigated against the
large number of
mirrors available now
Fig. 13. Bronze mirror from a brick-chambered
through archaeological
tomb at Shangsunjiazhai, Datong, Qinghai. Afexcavations in the past
ter Qinghai 1993.
sixty years. These
similar brick-chambered tomb of scientifically excavated bronze
late Eastern Han period at the mirrors, such as these from the
same cemetery, archaeologists Xiongnu tombs, are essential for
discovered a bronze seal with the the reconstruction of a reliable
official title that the Han framework in which the past of
government bestowed upon the cultural contacts and cultural
leader of the Xiongnu. The events can be placed.
excavators suggested that these
brick chamber tombs all belong to
the Xiongnu (Qinghai 1993).
The fragmented mirror from
Feature 109, moreover, is probably
a little bit earlier that the intact
mirror from Feature 100. The
original inscription must have run
over 30 characters based on the
size of the mirror and the
arrangement of the characters.
The content of the inscription, like
that in Fig. 12, describes the realm
of the immortals, which is
connected with the cult of the
immortals that developed in the
middle Western Han dynasty and
gained great popularity during the
late Western Han, the Xin and the
Eastern Han dynasties. The
ubiquitous presence of the TLV
motif on mirrors, coffins, and other
objects reflected this religious
frenzy in late Western Han and
Wang Mang’s time (Suzuki 2003).
That is also the circumstantial
About the Author
Guolong Lai is an assistant
professor of Chinese Art and
Archaeology at the University of
Florida. Trained as an archaeologist and paleographer at Beijing
University, he received his Ph.D.
at UCLA in 2002. His recent
publications include “The Diagram
of the Mourning System from
Mawangdul,” Early China, 28
(2003); “Valuing the Past in China.
The Seminal Influence of Liang
Sicheng on Heritage Conservation”
(co-authored), Orientations, 35/2
(2004); and “Death and the
Otherworldly Journey in Early
China,” Asia Major, 18/1 (2005).
He is currently working on a book
manuscript using archaeological
materials to study early Chinese
religions. E-mail: <[email protected]>.
43
References
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Anneliese Gutkind Bulling. The
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Period: A Chronology. Artibus
Asiae, Supplementum 20. Ascona,
Switzerland, 1960.
Bulling 1961
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renming chubanshe, 2002.
Cheng and Han 2002a
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edited and translated by Bruce
Gordon Doar. “A Study of Gaming
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Hagase koki kinenronbunshô.
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Hayashi Minao. Kandai no
kamigami. Kyoto: Rinkawa shoten,
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Higuchi 1953
Higuchi Takayasu. “Chûgoku kokyô
meibun no reibubetsu teki
kenkyû.” Tôhô gaku, 7 (1953): 114.
Kaplan 1937
Sidney Kaplan. “On the Origin of
the TLV Mirror.” Revue des Arts
Asiatiques, 11 (1937): 21-24.
Komai 1953
Komai Kazuchika. Chûgoku kokyô.
Tokyo: Iwanami, 1953.
Kong 1992
Kong Xiangxing. Zhongguo
gongjing tudian. Beijing: Wenwu
chubanshe, 1992.
Ledderose 2000
Lothar Ledderose. Ten Thousand
Things: Module and Mass
Production in Chinese Art.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
Hubei sheng jingjiu tielu kaogudui,
(comp.) Louzhoucheng and Han
mu. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe,
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Tomioka 1920
Loewe 1979
Umehara 1919
Michael Loewe. Ways to Paradise:
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jidai no kagami ni tsuite no gimon.”
Kôkogaku zasshi, 10/3 (1919):
137-155.
Loewe 2001-2
Umehara 1943
Michael Loewe. “Dated Inscriptions
on Certain Mirrors (A.D. 6-105):
Genuine or Fabricated?” Early
China, 26-27 (2001-2): 233-256.
Umehara Sueji. Kan Sangoku
Rokuchô kinen kyô zusetsu. Kyoto:
Sômyô Bunseidô, 1943.
Okamura 1984
Wang et al. 1985
Okamura Hedenori. “Sen Kan
kagami no hennen to yôshiki.”
Shirin, 67/5 (1984): 1-42.
Wang Qinjin, Li Jiuhai, and Xu
Yuliang. “Yangzhou chutu de
Handai mingwen tongjing.”
Wenwu, 1985/10: 90-96.
Okamura 1993
Yang 1947
Okamura Hedenori. “Go Kan
kagami no hennen.” Kokuritsu
rekishi minzoku hakubutsukan
kenkyû hôkoku, 55 (1993): 39-83.
Lien-sheng Yang, “A note on the
so-called TLV mirrors and the game
liu-po.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic
Studies, 9/3-4 (1947): 202-6.
Qinghai 1993
Qinghai sheng wenwu kaogu
yanjiusuo, Shangsunjiazhai Han Jin
mu. Beijing: Wenwu, 1993
Yetts 1939
W. P. Yetts. The Cull Chinese
Bronzes. London, 1939.
Suzuki 2003
Zhou 1986
Suzuki Naomi. “Hakukyoku mon to
enin rokuhaku to—sono seikaku to
Zen Kan matsu no hayari yôin.”
Chûgoku shutsudo shirô kenkyû, 7
(2003): 103-123.
Zhou Shirong. “Hunan chutu
Handai tongjing wenzi yanjiu.”
Guwenzi yanjiu, 14 (1986): 69175.
Takahashi 1919
Zhou Zheng. “‘Guiju jing’ ying gai
cheng ‘buju jing’.” Kaogu, 1987/
12: 1116-1118.
Takahashi Kenji. “Ômô jidai no
kagami ni tsuite.” Kôkogaku zasshi,
9/12 (1919): 691-702.
Li 2002
Li Ling. “Ba Zhongshan wang mu
chutu de liubo qiju.” Zhongguo lishi
wenwu, 2002/1: 8-15.
Louzhoucheng 2000
Huanggang shi bowuguan, Hubei
sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo,
Tomioka Kenzô. Kokyô no kenkyû.
Kyoto, 1920.
Zhou 1987
article is largely based on the
section on the TLV mirrors that the
two authors published in Cheng
and Han 2002, pp. 130-140, but
many careless errors were
introduced into the English
translation).
The bronze mirror fragment with the inscription, as it emerged
in the excavation of Feature 109, Tamir 1 site.
44
Zagd Batsaikhan
Mongolian National University, Ulaanbaatar
Although the surviving written
sources contain too little
information about ancient nomads
of Inner Asia, archaeological
findings of the last decade enable
us to reconstruct a great deal
about them and their history. We
are both enriching our knowledge
and testing previous assumptions.
This new material is essential for
establishing different influences on
the ethnic composition and
cultural level of the ancient Inner
Asian nomads. Scholars have
devoted much attention to
establishing the relationships
between ancient nomads in the
west of Eurasia and those of the
east. Yet the inadequacy of source
materials has prevented this
problem from being solved
convincingly. Of particular value
has been the new paleoanthropological information from
recent excavations. For example,
more than 20 Xoingnu burials,
some with europoid craniums,
were found at Naimaa Tolgoi,
Erdenemandal sum, Arkhangai
aimag. Also the 16 graves so far
excavated from among the 370 at
Tamiryn Ulaan Khoshuu (the Tamir
1 site) have yielded 5 unbroken
europoid craniums, and two of the
ten Xiongnu graves excavated
some ten km from that site
contained europoid craniums.
Photo © Department of Anthropology and Archaeology,
Mongolian National University
Foreign Tribes in the
Xiongnu Confederation
Fig. 2. Bronze cauldron with an
iron base, excavated in Feature
97, Tamir 1 site.
Photo © David E. Purcell 2005
The design of
these burials and the
grave contents are
quite similar to those
of Xiongnu burials in
other
parts
of
Mongolia and Transbaikalia. The three
walled enclosures
found at the Tamir 2
site 10 km west of
Tamiryn Ulaan
Khoshuu have
a
design
similar
to
Xiongnu walls
Fig. 3. Antler and iron decorations, probably for a
in other loharness, excavated in Feature 97, Tamir 1 site.
cations (see
drawings in the article by of pieces of pottery. Most of the
David Purcell above). While graves had been plundered. Yet
the date of Tamir 2 has not important and interesting objects
yet been determined, it remained, such as a bronze bell,
may be connected with the bronze cauldrons (Fig. 2), and
cemetary at Tamiryn Ulaan decorations made from bone (Fig.
Khoshuu.
3). All these features are probably
to be connected with the culture
Despite similarities, the and agriculture of the foreign tribes
Tamir 1 graves have some which were members of the
features which distinguish Xiongnu confederacy. These tribes
them from other Xiongnu paid tribute to the Xiongnu and
graves, viz.: the greater were responsible for agriculture.
depth (three to four
meters) (Fig. 1), wooden
The Chinese written sources
bulkheads, the orientation indicate that the northern Xiongnu
of the bodies, infrequent conquered tribes such as the
finds of cattle bones and Hunyu, Qushe, Dingling, Gekun,
Fig. 1. Feature 109, Tamir 1 site, in the
weaponry, and the number and Xinli. By the time the Shanyu
process of excavation.
45
Photo © Department of Anthropology and
Archaeology, Mongolian National University
extended conflict,
migrations from
east to west were
undoubtedly
accelerated and
occurred more
than once.
The sources
indicate that the
Wusun was a
nomadic
tribe
which
alway s
Fig. 4. A broken grinding stone from Feature 109,
sought
in
its
Tamir 1 site.
migrations grasslands and water for
Modun wrote to the the Han its cattle. Since the Wusun lifestyle
emperor in 176 BCE he could claim was identical with that of the
that besides the Donghu there Xiongnu, it is no surprise that they
were as many as 30 small and could adapt easily to the climate
large tribes which had submitted of Mongolia. Some sources suggest
to the Xiongnu. Among them have that the Wusun settled there some
to have been tribes speaking both time before 138 BCE.
Mongolian and Turkic languages.
Statistical analysis of cattle
Among the most important tribes
with which the Xiongnu had bones tells us that they were in
extensive relations was the Wusun. fact semi-nomadic. Burials at Aktas
The written sources from the which are related to the Wusun
second century BCE indicate that period contain, among many other
they first lived in the area of what items, a stone mattock, a bronze
is today western Gansu province scythe and 11 complete and 15
and then were forced to move broken grinding stones (Fig. 4).
further west under their leader, the These items form the main
Kunmo. Their political and trade evidence that the Wusun were
center was Chigu, an important involved in agriculture. Excavation
center on the Silk Road. When in near this site has uncovered an
2
105 BCE the Wusun ruler received agricultural area (60-150 m ) with
a Han princess as a bride, the a simple irrigation system.
Shanyu responded by sending his
Most of the Wusun burials are
daughter to the Kunmo, a move
round and located alongside a
that would have important political
river. The dead are usually placed
consequences for the Xiongnu.
in the grave without a coffin, laid
out straight and facing west.
In 73 BCE the Wusun made
Decorations,
pottery,
and
some changes within their
weaponry were placed on the left,
territories, separating them into
right and above the head.
three parts: central, eastern, and
Researchers have determined that
western. As the Han began to
there are three types of Wusun
strengthen their control of the
burials in the Semirech’e basin
Western Regions, in the period 64(westernmost Xinjiang; eastern51 BCE resistance developed
most Kazakhstan—Ed.). The most
among some of the peoples in
numerous of these types is the
Inner Asia. The power of the
third, where the grave diameter is
Wusun grew, but then civil strife
approximately 5-10 m, and the
developed between two major
contents include 1-2 pots, iron
factions. This war provided an
knives, bronze earrings, and
opportunity for the Han Dynasty
various decorations.
to use the Wusun against the
Xiongnu and take control of the
Researchers have divided the
Silk Road. During this period of Wusun remains into four periods:
46
4 th -2 nd centuries BCE, 2 nd -1 st
centuries BCE, 1st-3rd centuries CE,
3rd-5th centuries CE. Also they have
demonstrated that the Wusun’s
anthropological characteristics
have not changed throughout the
four periods and thus might be
assumed to have been established
as early as the 3rd century BCE.
The anthropological features
indicate that the Wusun had mixed
mongoloid-europoid faces, just like
people from the Tian-Shan, where
this type of face was probably
established after the 3rd century
BCE. However, the materials from
the Tienshan have more mongoloid
characteristics than do the findings
from Semirech’e. If we then
compare the cranium found at
Naimaa Tolgoi in Mongolia, with
other materials from Inner Asia, it
turns out to have the same
anthropological characteristics as
Wusun craniums. This mixed type
is not only found in Naimaa Tolgoi
but also in Central and Eastern
parts of Mongolia.
Written sources indicate that
another europoid tribe which was
a component of the Xiongnu was
the Huzi (in some sources written
Zihu). Chinese historian Ma
Changshou, has suggested that the
name Huzi is a combination of
Xiongnu and Zi, and the name Zihu
is the same as Zi. While the
sources do not tell us enough about
this people’s anthropological
characteristics, they provide some
interesting suggestions deserving
of attention. For example, Zhang
Ming indicates that they have a
high nose and long beard. Chinese
historian Yao Weiyuan uses Han
dynasty sources to prove that in
their culture and outward
appearance the Huzi were part of
the Yuezhi, who in turn at one time
were part of the Xiongnu.
G.
Sukhbaatar has asserted that they
were a europoid people from
Central Asia. Thus, even though
the sources do not reveal anything
about the life style and boundaries
of the Huzi, it seems that that
there were two europoid tribes
among the Xiongnu.
We cannot say for sure that
burials from Tamiryn Ulaan
Khoshuu, Emeel Tolgoi, Naimaa
Tolgoi are precisely from the
Wusun period; so this association
so far is a guess. Further, we need
to take into account the fact that
Indoeuropean tribes were already
migrating from the West to
western parts of Mongolia as early
as the Neolithic, Eneolithic, and
Bronze Ages, and once there they
mixed in among the native people.
By the time of the Xiongnu they
were settled in the center of the
empire, which meant that not only
their culture but also their
anthropological characteristics
began to change and disappear.
Yet there is still sufficient evidence
in the sources to identify some of
the burials at the given sites as
being those of the Wusun.
Finally we can say that the
Xiongnu people who emerged from
the Wusun later participated in the
process of the establishment of the
Turkic-Mongolian ethnic group.
Both the written sources and
archaeological findings prove that
the carriers of this culture migrated
into and settled in the western part
of the Xiongnu empire.
Investigation of a Xiongnu
Royal Tomb Complex in the
Tsaraam Valley
Sergei S. Miniaev
L. M. Sakharovskaia
Institute for the History of Material Culture,
Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg
The Xiongnu, otherwise known as
the Asiatic Huns, created a
powerful alliance of cattle-breeding
tribes in the late third to early
second century BCE and then
dominated the eastern part of
Central Asia for four centuries.
Systematic studies of Xiongnu
archaeological sites have been
carried out for more than a
century. At present, materials of
considerable value in the
characterization of settlement
complexes and cemeteries of
various types have been obtained.
However, elite barrows, which
usually
contain
important
Note: The author expresses his
deep appreciation to the Silkroad
Foundation for co-sponsoring the
2005 Tamiryn Ulaan Khoshuu
Expedition.
About the Author
Dr. Zagd Batsaikhan is a
professor in the Department of
Anthropology and Archaeology at
the Mongolian National University.
He has led numerous important
archaeological expeditions in
Mongolia, participated in the Joint
M o n g o l i a n - Ru s s i a n -A m e r i c a n
Archaeological Expeditions of the
1990s, and was the lead
archaeologist for the Tamiryn
Ulaan Khoshuu excavation in 2005.
Among his many publications is a
monograph on the Xiongnu.
information about social structure,
material culture, and the art of a
particular society, are neither wellknown nor systematically investigated using archaeological
techniques.
In 1996 the Trans-Baikal
Archaeological Expedition of the
Institute of History of Material
Culture, Russian Academy of
Sciences, St. Petersburg, initiated
a survey of the Tsaraam valley,
situated 1.5 km to the south of
Naushki village (Buriat Republic,
Russian Federation) (Fig. 1).
Archaeological work at the
Tsaraam Cemetery
began in the nineteenth century with
the discovery of the
site in June of 1896 by
the pioneer of Xiongnu
archaeology, Iu. D.
Tal’ko-Gryntsevich. He
recorded, ‘...more
than 20 barrows,
dispersed in a forest’
in the Tsaraam location. In June 1903,
Ta l ’ ko - G r y n t s e v i c h
and Ia. S. Smolev
excavated five of the
burials. All of them
had been robbed, and
only few artifacts were
found (Tal’ko-Gryntsevich 1999: 117118). Tal’ko-Gryntsevich drew a schematic
map with an approximate location of the
Fig. 1. Map showing location of the Tsaraam Valley.
Copyright © Sergei S.
Miniaev 2006.
47
burial site; however, over time the
cemetery was forgotten. In
September 1996 the cemetery
was rediscovered by the TransBaikal Expedition, which made an
accurate map marking the location
of all barrows. The survey showed
that in the valley were concentrated the largest burial
structures of the Xiongnu now
known in Russia, and these are
among the largest anywhere. In
1997, the expedition began to
excavate the cemetery and chose
to focus on the large and central
Burial Complex No. 7 (Fig. 2). The
Russian Humanities Foundation,
the Institute of History of Material
culture
of
confederation.
the
Xiongnu
Site Description
The Tsaraam valley is situated 30
km to the west of the town of
Kiakhta (Kiakhta district of the
Buriat Republic, Russian Federation), not far from the RussianMongolian border (E. 106 o
08’61.3’’, N. 500 21’22.8’’; 650670 masl). The length of the
Tsaraam valley from north to south
is 1.5 km, and its width approximately 700 m east to west.
Low mountains with pine forest
border the eastern section of the
valley while the western section
the central part of the valley. In
total, the area known to have
burials measures approximately
600 m north-south and 400 m
east-west. The largest barrow of
the cemetery is located in the
northern part of the valley, and 300
m to the southwest a line of seven
additional large barrows stretches
from the northeast to southwest.
The large barrows have similar
surface construction, which
includes a low square mound with
a round depression in the center.
Around several of the large
barrows are located smaller
barrows which, according to both
the historical sources and recent
archaeological evidence, are likely
to have been sacrificial interments.
The combination of a central large
barrow ringed by several smaller
barrows can be considered a single
mortuary complex.
Judging from their external and
internal structural similarity to
other Xiongnu sites such as Noin
Ula or the Elm valley, the Tsaraam
tomb complexes presumably date
to the Xiongnu period. The
Tsaraam group features large
burials too and is therefore thought
to be related to the highest social
strata of the Xiongnu confederation.
Surface and Internal Structures of the Central Barrow
Fig. 2. Burial Complex No. 7 in the Tsaraam Cemetary.
Drawing © Sergei S. Miniaev 2006.
Sciences and National Geographic
Society (United States) provided
financial support for this project.
Excavations during the field
seasons of 1997-2005 investigated
surface and internal constructions
of Barrow No. 7 and the ten
adjacent sacrificial burials. Chinese
silk items, a Chinese chariot,
lacquered artifacts, textiles, felt
carpets, jade, gold, silver, bronze
and iron objects, funeral dolls and
an “animal cemetery” were found.
As a result of the excavation we
now have extremely important
new data about the society and
opens on the Selenga River valley.
Mixed conifer and deciduous trees
cover lower slopes of the valley
while the central portion is open
with plowed fields and grassland
vegetation. Agriculture has been
carried on in the valley since the
nineteenth century, and in more
recent times mechanized plowing
has been used to prepare fields on
a fairly large scale. As a result of
these activities, many of the stone
surface features marking burial
areas have been destroyed.
Almost all barrows of the
Tsaraam Cemetery are situated in
48
Barrow No. 7 is not only the largest
Xiongnu barrow in Russia but also
one of the largest known at present
anywhere. The surface construction of the central barrow consists
of a quadrangle-shaped platform
surfaced with clay. It measures
approximately 29 x 28 m with a
height of approximately 1.5 m
above the present surface. The
entrance chamber is 20 m long and
extends to the south of the central
platform. The walls of the platform
are sided with stone slabs marking
the perimeter of the walls. Several
stone stelae were discovered,
some of which were intact and
others of which had fallen away
from the platform.
A single longitudinal and seven
perpendicular partitions divided
the upper section of the burial pit
into nine distinct compartments.
Each partition was constructed
from wooden logs stacked one
upon another, sometimes having
a thickness of two to three logs.
Four covers of the burial chamber
were exca vated under the
partitions. The uppermost cover of
the burial chamber consisted of
stone plates and wood; under the
logs was a reed stratum. The
second cover of the burial chamber
was situated in 1.5-1.7 m below
the upper one and covered the
entire area of the burial pit. This
second cover consisted of large
stone plates, stacked in close
proximity to each other. There was
also a thin stratum of reed 0.7 m
below the second cover. In both the
upper and second covers, there
was some difference between the
eastern and western parts. The
eastern part of the second cover
consisted of large plates and
boulders approximately 100 x 70
cm in area and with a thickness of
40-50 cm. The stone plates of the
western half of the cover were of
smaller size, approximately 40 x
50 cm and with a thickness of only
10-15 cm. At each corner of the
burial pit on the level of the second
cover there were small-sized
stones lying on top of the large
ones. The third cover was 11 m
below the modern surface. This
third cover consisted of large stone
plates; under the stones there was
a stratum of pebble, charcoal, birch
cortex and small-sized stones.
Bones of domesticated animals
were found along northern edge of
the third cover, among them skulls
of horses, cows, sheep and goats
which were placed in line with each
other. Near the skulls were tail and
leg bones. The fourth cover,
located one meter below the third
one, consisted of large stone
plates, birch cortex, a stratum of
pebble mixed with small-sized
stones and a stratum of charcoal.
This fourth cover was situated
directly on the roof of the burial
chamber.
Intraburial construction
The burial chamber itself consisted
of three chambers: an external
famework, an internal framework,
and the coffin. The external
chamber consisted of seven rows
of squared beams; the overall
height of the chamber was ca. 170180 cm. The longitudinal and
transverse beams were connected
by means of interlocking joints of
tongue-and-groove construction
cut through the entire width of
each beam. There were no
additional reinforcing connectors
between the beams.
The ceiling of the chamber
consisted of boards 20-35 cm wide
laid in the east-west direction. The
boards were placed flush with one
another, without any connectors
holding them together or attaching
them to the upper beams of the
chamber. The ends of the ceiling
boards rested on the upper beams
of the frame, and in the middle on
three transverse beams laid
equidistant from one another in a
north-south direction. The ceiling
beams rested on the upper beams
of the chamber (which had notches
cut in them to secure the beams)
and on columns located along
interior of the northern and
southern walls of the chamber. In
the northern section of the burial
structure along the external wall
of the external chamber were
three columns, and another three
columns were parallel to the first
along the northern wall of the
internal frame. Along the southern
wall of the chamber were another
three analogous columns. Thus
each of the three ceiling beams of
the external chamber had five
points of support: two on the
northern and southern upper
beams of the chamber (where the
ends of the beams were fitted into
special notches), two on the
columns on the northern side and
one more on the southern
columns. The external chamber
rested on a floor of beams laid in
an east-west direction. The
internal frame consisted of five
49
rows of squared beams each
measuring 20 x 20 cm. The
construction of the rows of the
frame was analogous to the
construction of the rows of the
external chamber. As in the case
of the external chamber, the frame
had a covering of transverse
boards and a floor similarly
constructed of transverse boards.
The coffin inside the frame had
been to a considerable degree
destroyed by the robbery from the
south end and by the subsequent
collapse of the chamber. One may
suppose that its floor and roof
consisted of two boards laid
lengthwise; the side walls of the
coffin were made of wide boards,
one to each wall.
Objects Found Inside the
Burial Pit.
Fragments of a Chinese mirror and
Chinese chariot were found inside
the burial pit. The fragments of the
mirror were stacked one on top of
the other under the logs at the
second level of the longitudinal
partition in the center of the burial
pit, 218 cm below the surface of
the grave. Some of the fragments
had traces of soot, indicating they
probably had been placed in a fire
during a funeral rite. The mirror,
whose diameter is 13 cm, is of a
well-known type with a design
including four nipples, quasidragons and birds (cf. Tal’koGryntsevich 1999, fig. 3c, p. 50;
Chou 2000, cat. no. 20, p. 39).
Such mirrors are normally dated
from the first century BCE to the
first century CE (Miniaev and
Sakharovskaia forthcoming).
A Chinese chariot was found
between the third and the fourth
covers (Miniaev and Sakarovskaia
2006). This chariot had been partly
destroyed by two robber’s entries,
but wheels, a canopy, yokes and
some bronze fittings were
preserved. The construction of the
chariot has very close parallels
among chariots of the Han Dynasty
period. Like the Han examples the
Tsaraam chariot has a canopy
consisting of a wooden framework
covered by some organic material,
four wooden posts supporting the
canopy, a trellised seat and
wooden ‘elbow-rests.’ The body of
the chariot and the painting of the
wheels are remarkably similar to
those of a recently restored chariot
from the burial of the famous Han
general Huo Qubing (d. 117 BCE)
who fought against the Xiongnu.
Judging by the number of yokeheads, the Tsaraam chariot was
originally intended for a team of
three horses. That explains the
use of two-yoke shafts instead of
the more typical Han arrangement
with a single central shaft whose
use implies an even number of
horses in the team.. Quite probably
the chariot found in Tsaraam was
a gift from the Han court to one of
the representatives of the Xiongnu
elite.
Objects Found in the
Burial Chamber
The bulk of the burial goods were
located in the corridors between
the walls of the chamber, the frame
and the coffin.
• In the western external corridor
were objects from several sets of
harness (iron bits, cheek-pieces,
harness buckles) and two burial
dolls. Each doll was formed from
the skull of a baby, to which had
been attached several braids
interwoven with beads. The long
ends were shaped like lacquered
wooden sticks. The grave inventory
of the dolls consisted of iron belt
buckles and lacquered wooden
boxes with cosmetic accessories (a
fragment of a Chinese mirror, hair
pins and birchbark containers of
cosmetic pigments). The boxes
were decorated with appliqués of
red lacquer on a yellow lacquer
background; the birchbark
containers were ornamented with
drawings of yurts and carts.
• The finds in the eastern external
corridor were practically the same
as those in the western one. Here
there were also sets of bridles
(consisting of iron bits, cheekpieces and buckles) and burial
dolls. One of the dolls was
preserved in its entirety: It had
been formed in a fashion similar
to the dolls in the western corridor
and had practically the same burial
goods, i.e., lacquered wooden
boxes with a mirror and birchbark
containers. The other doll
apparently had been removed by
the robbers; only its feet
remained.
• There were practically no finds
in the western internal corridor:
only two bronze bracelets in the
southwestern and southeastern
corners of the grave.
•The finds in the eastern internal
corridor were confined to its
southern part, since the northern
part had been destroyed by
robbers. These finds included sets
of harnesses (iron bits, cheekplates, bronze harness-plates,
silver chest medallions with images
of mountain goats), arrowheads,
a lacquered wooden staff, silver
plaques with depictions of a goat,
a lacquered wooden cup and a
lacquered wooden quiver with iron
arrowheads.
• To a substantial degree the
northern external corridor had
been destroyed by the entrance of
a looter, but fragments of ceramics
and lacquered wooden objects
were found there. Nothing was
found in the southern external
corridor, but in that corridor,
attached to the interior wall of the
external chamber, were remains of
a woolen carpet which had been
destroyed by the shifting of the
beams of the chamber.
• In the southern internal corridor
were a flat iron ring and two iron
fasteners.
• In the preserved southern section
of the tomb were the remains of a
covering of some organic material
(felt or compressed fur), two iron
buckles covered in gold foil and
depicting a satyr, two gold
necklaces, and a small gold
container with the image of a
mountain goat.
50
Conclusion
The scope of the finds so far at
the
Tsaraam
complex
is
impressive, and suggests that
continuing the excavations in the
Tsaraam
Valley
will
add
substantially to our knowledge of
the Xiongnu. Apart from the main
tomb of Burial Complex No. 7, the
sacrificial burials around it have
yielded interesting information
which we have discussed
elsewhere
(Minaev
and
Sakharovskaia 2002). Of course
full analysis of the results of such
a large excavation remains to be
done. The most urgent task is
preservation of the finds. The
organic materials — such items as
the
birchbark
containers,
lacquerware and cloth —
deteriorate rapidly; it is essential
that the financial means be
obtained for their proper
preservation.
About the Authors
The authors are on the staff the
Institute for the History of Material
Sciences (St. Petersburg). Sergei
Miniaev is a Senior Scientific
Fellow there and has been at the
Institute since 1968. He wrote his
kandidat (Ph.D. equivalent)
dissertation on Xiongnu bronzes
and has compiled a distinguished
record of publication on Xiongnu
history, art and archaeology. His
articles have appeared in journals
such as Das Altertum, Ars
Asiatiques and Orientations. Of
particular importance is his
monograph Derestuiskii mogil’nik
(The Derestui Cemetery) (St.
Petersburg, 1998) in the series
Arkheologicheskie pamiatniki
Siunnu (Archaeological Monuments
of the Xiongnu) which he edits.
References
Chou 2000
Chou, Ju-hsi. Circles of Reflection:
The Carter Collection of Chinese
Bronze Mirrors. Cleveland: The
Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
Miniaev and Sakharovskaia 2002
S. S. Miniaev and L. M.
Sakharovskaia. “Soprovoditel’nye
zakhoroneniia
‘tsarskogo’
kompleksa No. 7 v mogol’nike
Tsaram.” Arkheologicheskie vesti
(St. Petersburg), No. 9 (2002): 86118; in English as “Sacrifice burials
of the royal complex no. 7 at the
Tsaraam cemetery” (http://
www.xiongnu.boom.ru/Sacrif.htm,
accessed July 19, 2006).
Miniaev and Sakharovskaia 2006
Sakharovskaia. “Khan’skaia
kolesnitsa iz mogil’nika Tsaram” (A
Han Chariot from the Tsaraam
Cemetery). Arkheologicheskie
vesti (St. Petersburg), No. 13
(2006).
Miniaev and
forthcoming
Sakharovskaia
Sakharovskaia. “Khan’skoe zerkalo
iz mogol’nika Tsaram” (A Han
Mirror from the Tsaraam
Cemetery). (forthcoming article).
Tal’ko-Gryntsevich 1999
Iu. D. Tal’ko-Gryntsevich. Materialy
k paleoetnologii Zabaikal’ia.
(Materials
on
the
Paleoethnography of the Trans-Baikal.)
Arkheologicheskie pamiatniki
Siunnu, vyp. 4. (St. Petersburg:
Fond “Aziatika,” 1999).
Archaeology of the Mongolian
Period: A Brief Introduction
D. Tumen
D. Navaan
M. Erdene
National University of Mongolia,
Ulaanbaatar
The Mongolian period (13th-14th
c. CE) in Inner Asia is well
documented in written historical
sources. These include narrative
histories and documents in Persian,
Chinese, Arabic and other
languages. For the earliest stages
of the history of the Mongol
Empire, one of main sources is ‘The
Secret History of Mongols,’ written
in the thirteenth century, whose
oldest copy is written in
transcription by means of Chinese
characters. The ‘Secret History’
has been studied from a variety of
viewpoints: historical, linguistic,
ethnological, and literary. The
Mongols had not had their own
written language and borrowed
scripts from other cultures, such
as the Uighur. However, in 1269
they established
the
new
‘squared’ script. While it never
replaced Uighur, it was used in
Qubilai Khan’s time on seals and
paizas or passports which
guaranteed free passage for
diplomats and others through
Mongol lands.
In addition to the written
sources, archaeological investigation in Mongolia and its
surrounding
territory
has
discovered various monuments
belonging to the period of the
Mongol Empire, including ruins of
settlements, human statues,
inscriptions on stone and wood,
and graves.
Ruins of several
historically attested settlements
from the period of the Mongol
Empire have been the subject of
scholarly investigation. The earliest
one is Aurag Balgas (early
thirteenth century). The Aurag
Balgas ruin was discovered by
Mongolian scholar Kh. Perlee in the
51
1950s. In 1990-1993 the
Mongolian-Japanese ‘Gurvan Gol’
expedition reexamined the ruin. A
Mongolian-Japanese expedition
continues archaeological excavation of the Aurag Balgas ruin
today.
Karakorum, the former capital
city of the Mongol Empire in the
thirteenth century, is the best
studied archaeological site from
the period. Russian scholar N. M.
Iadrintsev first discovered its ruins
in 1889. The Mongolian-Russian
historical and cultural expedition
led by Russian archaeologist S. B.
Kiselev undertook major excavation of the site in 1948-1950,
at which time they explored what
they determined was the ruin of
Khan Ogedei’s palace (Kiselev
1965). In 1976-1980, Mongolian
archaeologist N. Ser-Odjav and his
team renewed excavation of the
city’s ruins. Among their unique
discoveries was a Muslim cemetery
with burials of ordinary people. In
1995 a Mongolian-Japanese
expedition
undertook
an
archaeological survey and made
a topographic map of the city’s
ruin. Since 1999, the MongolianGerman joint archaeological
expedition has been excavating at
Karakorum (Dschingis Khan 2005).
[They found the kiln used to
produce the numerous ceramic
dishes and roof tiles of Karakorum
and recently have concentrated on
the area in the center of the
commercial district of the city
occupied, it seems, by Chinese
artisans and merchants. In
exploring further the site Kiselev’s
expedition had established as the
palace, the Mongolian-German
team has raised doubts about that
Center at the National University
of Mongolia, the Department of
Anthropology and Archaeology
implemented the project ‘Dornod
Mongol’ (Eastern Mongolia) in
2002-2005. As part of this project,
the Department’s team of scholars
carried out extensive archaeological reconnaissance in the
territory of eastern Mongolia and
revealed a number of interesting
sites, belonging to different periods
of Mongolian history, from
Palaeolithic to Mediaeval. The
study used GPS methods to
determine their exact geographical location. Figs. 1 and 2
show the main routes and newly
discovered archaeological sites.
Fig. 1. ‘Eastern Mongolia’ Research Project fieldwork routes, 2002-2005.
X ......... Archaeological Expedition 1, Dr. Z. Batsaikhan.
O —— Archaeological Expedition 2, Drs. D. Navaan, M. Erdene.
attribution, arguing that the
building may in fact be a Buddhist
temple. – Ed.]
Grave monuments are found all
over the territory of Mongolia and
its surrounding regions. So far
around 300 graves have been
excavated in
Mongolia and
Transbaikalia (Russian Buriatia).
These
excavations
have
established that there are
generally as few as two to three
or as many as five to ten graves
at one place. Grave monuments
from Mongolia and Transbaikalia
have common surface construction. A common finding in
Mongolian graves is
tibial bones of sheep.
Since 1996 the
Department
of
Anthropology and
Archaeology of the
National University of
Mongolia has carried
out archaeological
survey and excavation in eastern and
central Mongolia.
With the support of
the Asia Research
In 2002 three previously
unknown sites were found and
partly excavated in the Tsuvraa
mountain area of Khulenbuir sum,
Dornod aimag. In each site were
some hundred graves from the
Mongolian and Xiongnu periods.
In 2004
the Department ’s
archaeological team discovered
several previously unknown and
very interesting sites from the
period of the Mongol Empire in
Tavan Tolgoi (Ongon sum), Altan
O voo and Gangyn Tsagan
(Dariganga sum and Munkhkhaan
sum), Sukhbaatar aimag (Fig. 3,
next page). In each site there are
more than ten graves. Some of
them yielded valuable findings
which may be related to Chingis
Khan’s royal lineage. Here is a brief
description of some of those graves
(see also the interview with D.
Navaan below).
Grave No. 1, Tavan Tolgoi site,
Ongon sum, Sukhbaatar aimag.
Grave No. 1 contained a skeleton
of a headless horse with a saddle
whose bow was sheathed in gold.
To the right of the horse skeleton
lay the remains of a woman
Fig. 2. Newly discovered and partly excavated archaeological sites from Xiongnu and Mongolian Periods by the
archaeological expeditions from the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, National University of Mongolia
(2002-2005).
1. Khairkhan chuluu site, Munkhkhaan sum, Sukhbaatar aimag (Mongolian Period). 2. Tavan Tolgoi site,
Ongon sum, Sukhbaatar aimag (Xiongnu and Mongolian Periods). 3. Gangyn Tsagaan site, Altan Ovoo Site, Dariganga
sum, Sukhbaatar aimag (Mongolian Period). 4. Tsuvraa Uul, Bayan Uul, Takhilagt Uul sites, Khulenbuir sum, Dornod
aimag (Xiongnu and Mongolian Periods). 5, 6, 7. Nugaar, Shuus and Zuun Bayangiin Am, Bugat sites, Khentii aimag
(Bronze Age, Xiongnu and Mongolian Periods). 8. Emu site, Selenge aimag (Mongolian Period).
52
harnessed horse head at
the left hind corner of the
burial pit. The harness had
knob-like decorations at
the knots, and leather
pieces of harness were
found elsewhere. At 1.30
m,
the
excavation
unearthed a horse on
whose saddle was a gold
bow-plate with a dragon
image.
To the right of the horse
skeleton, separated by a
large stone, lay human
remains in a wooden coffin.
Fig. 3. Archaeological sites from the Mongolian Period.
The human skeleton, of a
O Grave sites excavated by Department’s archaeological team.
supine female, retained its
Graves excavated by archaeologists.
anatomical structure, but in
Settlement ruins.
X Stone-man sites: 1. Dornod aimag, 2. Sukhbaatar aimag, 3. Domo Gobi a very poor state of
Further
aimag, 4. Dund Gobi aimag, 5. Tov aimag, 6. Uberkhangai aimag, 7. Gobi Altai aimag. preservation.
excavation
revealed
oriented toward the northwest. lay to the right of the human various gold and silver goods. She
The woman’s skeleton was very remains. A stirrup and a birch- wore a gold ring on a finger of her
well preserved. She wore a two bark arrow quiver with four left hand and a golden crown on
golden rings on the fingers of her arrowheads inside were unearthed her head A pair of gold earrings
The was found near the skull. A small
left hand; on the inner surface of at the human’s legs.
each ring was inscribed an image archaeological findings and other golden container had a black
of a falcon. According to C14 mortuary materials from the powder inside, and ‘ochir’ and
analysis, Grave No. 1 is dated grave, in particular the sheep tibial other decorations beautifully
1190-1230 CE or the period of and ankle bones, show that the crafted of gold were found there
grave belongs to the Mongolian too. Other findings in the grave
Great Mongol Empire.
period. Furthermore, some included a silver pot, a bowl
Grave No. 2 revealed a characteristics of palaeoan- containing grain, a human image
horseman buried not far from the thropological findings from the made from jade and a bronze
woman’s grave. He was holding in grave, such as trauma of the left mirror wrapped in cloth. The buried
his right hand silk material in which clavicle, outer and inner woman wore a fine silk outer
was wrapped a large pearl resting constructions of the grave, and garment and leather boots with
upon a base that was shaped like associated
archaeological sharp tips.
a flower. This large pearl set onto materials suggest that the grave
a flower-shaped base is called a belongs to an individual of lower
Although the stone structure of
jins in Mongolian and was used as social status, e.g. a common the grave on the surface appears
a marker of status.
warrior.
to date to the Xiongnu period, the
internal structure and the objects
Grave TT-2005 B-4. GeoGrave
TT-2005
B-5. recovered during excavation date
o
graphical position: N – 45 05’55.7, Geographical position: N – 45 o
E – 112o 42’47.1; elevation 1089 05’59.0, E – 112 o 43’10.9; it to the twelfth or thirteenth
m above sea level. The grave is elevation 1096 m above sea level. centuries CE. Moreover, the pelvic
located on the southern slope of The grave is located on the structure of the human remains
the Dund Ovoot hill, 500 m. to the southern slope of Dund Ovoot hill and the associated gold objects
suggest that the burial belongs to
west of the hilltop.
of Tavan Tolgoi at the upper left a woman of high social status.
The following artifacts were periphery of the group of graves.
found in the grave: a sheep’s The surface structure is a ringGrave TT-2005 B-6. Geoshoulder blade, ribs, ankle and shaped stone construction 8.5 m. graphical position: N – 45o 05’58.9,
tibia bone, all lay near a human in diameter, not mounded on the E – 112o 43’10.7; elevation 1103
skull; and a horse head with surface.
m above sea level. The grave is
harness lay to the left of the
A horse tooth and other bones located on the southern slope of
human remains. Sheep vertebrae were found at a depth of 50 cm. Dund Ovoot hill of Tavan Tolgoi,
and a shin bone and a horse hoof At a depth of 1.10 m, there was a below and to the left of grave TT-
53
2005 B-5. The surface structure is
a ring-shaped stone construction
6 m in diameter, not mounded on
the surface.
At a depth of 70 cm, ribs and
foot bones of animals, bone knobs
with metal centers (their purpose
is unclear), and pieces of birch bark
were found. At 1.1 m were the
remains of a horse with a leather
saddle. At 1.80 m, there was
wooden coffin, whose inner surface
was painted with red and white
decoration and covered in some
places
with
birch
bark.
Archaeological findings from the
grave include a golden ring, cloth
(possibly the lining of the coffin),
a 3-petal golden ‘ochir,’ a jade belt
decoration inlaid with square
turquoise, and a 7-petal decoration
made of bone. Palaeoanthropological materials were uncovered
without any anatomical structure
and consisted of skull fragments,
a clavicle, ribs, vertebrae, a radius,
a fibula, feet bones and phalanxes.
Bone structure and relief of
paleoanthropological materials
show that the human remains are
from a male.
Archaeological findings from the
grave TT-2005 B-6, among them
the fully-equipped horse, suggest
that the grave dates to the
Mongolian period and belongs to a
male aristocrat. The grave appears
to have been pillaged in antiquity.
Grave TT-2005 B-7. Geographical position: N – 45o 05’58.7,
E – 112o 43’11.1; elevation 1096
m above sea level. The grave is
located on the southern slope of
Dund Ovoot hill of Tavan Tolgoi,
down from the grave TT-2005 B5. The surface structure is a ringshaped stone construction, not
mounded on the surface.
Excavation was undertaken on
an area of 3 x 2.2 m. At 85 cm,
the burial pit was identified and
further excavation then conducted
over an area of 2.6 x 1.7 m. At a
depth of 1.5 to 1.7 m were found
horse vertebrae, a hoof, saddle
trim made from bone, birch bark,
copper and iron goods, buttons and
a belt buckle.
At 2.10 m, the upper lid of a
wooden coffin oriented north-south
was revealed. The well-preserved
coffin had been placed in a stonesided pit and covered by large flat
stones. One of the boards of the
coffin lid was broken. The coffin
had iron girdles at the head and
foot ends and appeared to have
had a copper one in the middle.
The coffin interior was lined with
silky material with small white
ornaments. The measurements of
the coffin were: length 2.12 m;
upper width at the head 60 cm,
bottom 55 cm; upper width at the
foot 54 cm, bottom 42 cm; height
at the head 56 cm, at the foot 50
cm; thickness of lid board 3 cm,
side wall 6 cm, foot wall 8 cm.
The human remains in the
grave were completely disrupted,
and the skull with mandible was
found out of the coffin on the north
edge of its lid, facing to the east.
Other bones, such as clavicle,
radius and ulna were found out of
the coffin at a depth of 2 m.
Nonetheless, lower limb bones,
scapula, ribs, and sacral bone were
recovered in the coffin. Since they
were out of anatomical order, it
was not possible to ascertain the
position of the body in the grave.
However, by the coffin shape, it
could be supposed that the
interred individual was placed
supine and oriented to the north.
The grave also has unique
characteristics. A golden earring
was discovered under the skull of
the human remains, which appear
to be those of a man.
From the archaeological
findings, including the wooden
coffin and grave structure, we can
assume that the grave dates to the
Mongolian period and belongs to
an individual of high social status.
The single earring found in the
grave may have been connected
to rituals, and shows that medieval
Mongolian nobles used to wear a
single earring in their left ear.
54
The graves excavated in 20042005 at the Tavan Tolgoi site all
had a horse associated with the
interred individual and are of great
importance to the archaeology of
the Mongolian period. Assuming
that the findings are evidence that
the Tavan Tolgoi site is connected
with the history of Great Mongol
Empire, we can conclude that
graves TT-2004 B-1, TT-2004-B2, TT-2005 B-5, TT-2005 B-6, TT2005 B-7 were burials of nobles
who had a close relationship to
Chingis Khan’s Golden Lineage.
The territory of Ongon sum was
the land of the Onggirat tribe in
the 12 th-13th centuries, a tribe
which had an old bond with Chingis
Khan’s Golden Lineage. Thus we
might conclude that the Tavan
Tolgoi area was the burial ground
of the Onggirat tribe.
The conclusion regarding the
royal connections of the graves is
supported by some of the key
archaeological finds: the jins
marker in the man’s grave, the
woman’s rings with a falcon seal
inside, the gold saddle bow-plate,
and the other jewelry, all of which
undoubtedly belonged to a royal
family during the Great Mongolian
Empire. Of particular significance
were the gold rings with the
engraved image of a falcon, which
signifies that the person to whom
the rings belonged must be of
great importance. The falcon is
mentioned in the thirteenthcentury ‘Secret History of Mongols’
and provides a link to Chingis
Khan’s lineage. In its 63rd section
Onggirat Dei Sechen speaks to
Yisügei Baatar, Temüjin’s father,
when he came to betrothe his 9
year-old-son to Börte,
Dei
Sechen’s daughter: ‘… This night
I saw the dream that the white
falcon came to me holding the sun
and the moon and left them on my
hand …. Dear Yisügei, your coming
with your son explains my dream.
The totem of you, Kiyat people,
has come...’ (Chengdü-yin
Damdinsüren 1947). Temüjin was
described in this story as the
Falcon, a totem of the Kiyat
Borjigin tribe.
The authors are all members of the
Department of Anthropology and
Archaeology of the National
University of Mongolia. Prof.
Navaan Dorjpagma is the
department’s senior professor. He
received his initial training in
Archaeology at Moscow State
University and for many decades
worked in the Mongolian Academy
of Sciences. His specialty is Bronze
Age archaeology of Eastern
Mongolia; he has published three
monographs and over 200
scholarly articles. Prof. Tumen
Dashvereg likewise received her
degrees from Russian institutions
and since 1995 has chaired her
department. She has held
numerous visiting appointments at
distinguished foreign universities
and recently completed a lecture
tour in the United States and
Canada, sponsored by the Silkroad
Foundation. Her publications in her
specialization of paleoanthropology
include three books and some 90
articles.
Her
e-mail
is
<[email protected]>. She,
Prof. Navaan, and the third coauthor, Prof. M. Erdene of her
department, presented a paper in
April 2006 at the 19th Annual C14
Conference (held at Oxford) on the
carbon 14 dating of the Tavan
Tolgoi site.
References (provided by editor)
Chengdü-yin Damdinsüren 1947
Chengdü-yin Damdinsüren, tr.,
Mongghol-un nighucha tobchi-yan
[Secret History of the Mongols].
Ulan Bator, 1947. [The currently
authoritative translation of the
Secret History into English is The
Secret History of the Mongols: A
Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the
Thirteenth Century, tr. with
historical
and
philological
commentary
by
Igor
de
Rachewiltz, 2 vols. (Leiden;
Boston: Brill, 2004). It contains
massive commentaries on all
aspects of the work. For a literary
adaptation of the text, see The
Secret History of the Mongols: The
Origin of Chingis Khan. An
Adaptation by Paul Kahn.
Expanded ed. Boston: Cheng &
Tsui, 1998.—Ed.]
Mongolian
“Nauka,”
summary of
Expeditions
ca. 1960.
Dschingis Khan 2005
Mongol’skii archeologicheskii
sbornik.
Posviashchaetsia
slavnomu XL-letiiu Mongol’skoi
Narodnoi Respubliki. (Mongolian
Archaeological
Symposium.
Dedicated to the Glorious 40 th
Anniversary of the Mongolian
People’s Republic.) Moscow: Izdvo. Akademii nauk SSSR, 1962.
Contains interesting articles on
some of the discoveries of the
1950s.
Dschingis Khan und seine Erben:
Das Weltreich der Mongolen.
München: Kunst– und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland. Hirmer Verlag, 2005.
Splendid exhibition catalogue, with
valuable summary of recent
Mongolian-German excavations at
Karakorum.
Kiselev 1965
Cities.) Moscow:
1965. Important
the Soviet-Mongolian
of the late 1940s to
S. V. Kiselev et al. Drevnemongol’skie goroda. (Ancient
Tombs of Chingisids
Are Still Being
Found...
An Interview with
Senior Archaeologist,
Professor Dorjpagma
Navaan
Interviewed by Shirchin Baatar on
August 3, 2005.
We are meeting again after exactly
one year. I heard that you made
number of discoveries during the
most recent season. Can you tell
us about your new discoveries as
well as older ones?
Last year, during the expedition
organized by the Department of
Anthropology and Archaeology of
the National University of
Mongolia, we found some
interesting discoveries related to
the thirteenth century. We
informed the public and planned
to continue work in 2005. We
excavated three burials in the hope
of finding some more interesting
and valuable items. Our hopes
were met.
55
About the Authors
Fig. 1. Prof. Navaan discussing his
2005 excavations. Looking on is Prof.
Al Dien (Stanford), who lectured for
the Silkroad Foundation’s summer institute in Mongolia.
Thank you for the good news. First
you found a burial of a female
aristocrat. Exactly what kinds of
things were with her? What was
the position of the body?
First we went to a place named
Tavan Tolgoi in Ongon sum,
Sukhbaatar aimag (Fig. 1, next
page). When we were exploring
there, I found some graves on the
slope of Dund Ovoot mountain.
Because of the external structure
of the burials I assumed that they
of the saddle were in
exactly their original
position. All the
material of the saddle
had very skillfullyexecuted patterns and
needlework.
The
saddle also had iron
stirrups. The woman
not only had the gold
rings but also a bronze
mirror, silver bracelets
on each arm and a
gold necklace with an
expensive turquoise
Fig. 2. Map showing location of Tavan Tolgoi and
inlay. All of them were
Sharga Mountain.
crafted with the most
could be from the Xiongnu period. wonderful designs.
But there was doubt. The Xiongnu This means that during that period
usually did not bury their people Mongols made bracelets of silver.
on higher mountain slopes, which How are you preserving those
is where those burials were finds? Did you trace the designs?
located. In order to find out the
reason, we decided to excavate the We are keeping all rare materials
first grave. When we excavated the under strong security at our
northeast grave we found the university. We continue the
remains of a woman with a horse. restoration of those items, but it
There had not been any
looting. It was a great find.
There were gold rings on both
hands, and inside of the rings
were hidden images of white
falcons. That image gave us
direct evidence that this
burial is related to Chingis
Khan’s family. Therefore we
decided to continue research
and excavation in this area.
Now we have a long period
of research work ahead.
Were there other interesting
finds besides those two rings
with the white falcons? How
about saddles, bridles,
clothes and other items?
Were there other important
anthropological signs?
The woman was there with
the horse, but the horse was
without a head (Fig. 3).
Mongols have a tradition of
placing horse heads on high
mountains as offerings. The horse
had a saddle, and the upper side
of the saddle, both front and back,
was covered with well-designed
and carefully crafted gold. The
saddle-cloth, girth and other parts
What will be the title of your book?
Will it be published soon?
Because those discoveries were
made in Tavan Tolgoi of Ongon
sum, we will name the book Ongon
Tavan Tolgoi. I will include all
materials related to the thirteenth
century in this book and publish it
in Mongolian and English. The book
will be published in 2006 before
the 800 th anniversary of the
founding of Chingis Khan’s
Mongolian empire.
I heard that you also found a
noble’s hat with a gold jins (a
small, round item worn on a top of
a hat to indicate rank). Was it
found in the first excavation?
The second burial was at the foot
of the woman’s burial. First we
thought that it would be the burial
of her son or someone related to
her. The excavation revealed that
it had been looted a long time
ago. We are lucky because the
looter did not also loot the
woman’s grave. Examination
of the skeleton’s anatomy
showed that the second grave
contained the body of a man,
who was buried with his horse.
The horse still had its head.
Therefore the man probably
was a very important aristocrat. The most important
discovery from that tomb was
a gold artifact with pearl inlay,
placed on a lotus. It was
wrapped in silk and held in the
left hand of the man, which
was under his back. It could
be a jins or a religious or
decorative item. I think that
the important thing is that it
is related to the period when
Copyright © Department of AnthropolBuddhism
first spread to
ogy and Archaeology, Mongolian National
Mongolia. The fact that the
University, 2005
man held this artifact tightly
Fig. 3. Drawing of burial in Tomb No.
and it was hidden under his
1 (?), Tavan Tolgoi.
back is very interesting. We
is not an easy task. We need more are continuing to study this.
time. Part of the careful study of
the saddle components is to make That man’s horse was without any
accurate drawings. Once restored saddle. Is it because the tomb was
and carefully studied, all the items looted? How do you know the tomb
will appear in a book.
was looted?
56
Photos © (left) Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, National
University of Mongolia; (right) Daniel C. Waugh 2005
It is easy to recognize when other
people have disturbed an
archaeological monument. The
skeleton was moved a little. But I
think the horse originally was
without a saddle. There should
have been other valuable artifacts
in that tomb. But since there were
none, we think it was looted.
Since the jins-like artifact was
under the man’s back, looters
probably did not notice it.
Another interesting discovery
in the tomb was a stirrup.
Last year, winter arrived after
you had dug two tombs. Did
you dig other tombs this year?
How did you find the other
important discoveries?
There were other tombs
located near the two we
excavated last year. Therefore
we had an ambitious goal for
this year. We chose three
tombs and excavated them. We
excavated them in a different order
compared to last year’s excavation
and numbered them 5, 6 and 7. A
lot of expensive and valuable
artifacts were found in those three
tombs. In the fifth tomb there was
a woman younger than 20. On her
body and near her head there were
a number of of gold items. Because
she was a young woman she was
dressed in a fancy manner. For
Fig. 4. Gold hat decorations and earrings from Tavan Tolgoi
example there Tomb No. 5.
was a gold
crown, a jade belt-fastener with
gold inlay and a lapis lazuli plate,
a gold ring, a gold hair-clip with
various patterns, a necklace with
a round gold box and a gold
thunderbolt (Figs. 4, 5, 6). The
related to Buddhism. We should
therefore consider that at this time
the Mongols already had adopted
Buddhism. In last year ’s excavation we also found a bone
thunderbolt with carving on it.
Was the young woman alone
in the tomb? Did you find a
horse or saddle with her?
Probably that girl was a beloved
daughter of an important
aristocrat. A horse was with
her, and there was a beautifully
designed saddle sheathed in
gold and with dragon-shaped
ornaments (Fig. 7, next page).
We have started to restore that
magnificent creation. It has a
great many well-crafted
carvings. Ethnographically it is
Fig. 5. Gilded pectoral (crown?), Tavan
an important monument of
Tolgoi Tomb No. 5.
oriental culture. The dragon
most interesting discovery was the ornamentation is very artistic. The
gold thunderbolt that she held in dragon is the sky animal. A person
her hand. The thunderbolt is who used a gold saddle with a sky
animal had to be a high nobleman.
In Mongolian archaeological history
there have never been such
discoveries before, and they prove
that we have a proud culture and
heritage.
Fig. 6. Gold thunderbolt (vajra) found
in Tavan Tolgoi Tomb No. 5.
57
I saw pictures of Mongolian rulers’
saddles. There are two kinds of
Photos © Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, National University of Mongolia.
Fig. 7. Gold foil saddle decoration with dragon design. Tavan Tolgoi
Tomb No. 5.
them. But, this one is not
comparable to either of them. This
saddle is wonderful. Can you talk
about Tombs Nos. 6 and 7?
We found a gold earring from Tomb
No. 6. That man’s tomb looks as
though it had been disturbed by
someone. The coffin’s design is
very good. It seems that the
coffin’s wood is not from native
trees but could have been brought
from the south. The inside layer
of the coffin was some kind of high
quality silky material. We found a
big piece from that material and
now are working to restore it.
There was no horse in that tomb.
The anthropological material of
Tomb No. 7 proved that it was a
man. We found in that tomb some
gold objects with figurative
designs, possibly used as clothing
decorations. This tomb also had
been robbed by someone.
So, there were five tombs, two
containing women and three of
them men. All the men’s tombs
were looted but the women’s ones
were not. That makes me think
that someone who knew about the
tombs robbed them soon after the
burials.
We also think so. Usually many
expensive items were placed with
noblemen. Those robbers would
have known that.
Are there any other tombs? Will
you continue your research in this
area?
There are many other tombs in
Dund Ovoot. They are close to
each other. Also there are some
other, quite different, tombs that
we have excavated 200-300
meters away. The tombs that
contained the gold artifacts were
tombs of aristocrats, but the latter
ones were for ordinary people.
Some of them contained horses,
but there were no saddles. They
might be warriors’ tombs. Some
artifacts could prove this point. In
last year’s excavation we found a
bronze earring from a poor
woman’s tomb. So these were
different kinds of peoples, and we
found different artifacts. As many
as five or six other big tombs that
could contain a lot of gold items
existed in the area where we first
excavated. We will study those
tombs in 2006. There are two or
three hills about 1 km beyond
Dund Ovoot. One hill has about
ten, another one has seven or eight
tombs. The place is called Tavan
Tolgoi (Five Hills) because there
are several hills side by side. It
contains monuments from the
thirteenth century and also even
from the Hun period. We will apply
to the Mongolian Government to
protect this place.
Now people know about Tavan
Tolgoi. Will people go there by
themselves and rob those
tombs…?
Ongon sum of Sukhbaatar aimag
is the closest sum to the border.
The place that we conducted our
excavation is in only 10 km away
from the border. There are three
army units near this place; so the
protection is good. The border
guards always watch this place. It
58
is clear what cars are coming and
who is visiting. The local people
also act as guards. These people
have sharp eyes and they know
who is coming, where they stay,
whether they come with horse or
car, etc. When even ordinary
citizens are so watchful, then any
casual robber can’t get to this
place.
What good people. I am proud of
them. I have another question. If
this place is only 10 km from the
border, then that means that
perhaps some other tombs could
be on the other side of the border.
Are you interested in this, and
have you crossed to the other side?
I have not. Because it is a border,
there is no chance to cross it. We
can’t go there, and other people
can’t come from that side.
Therefore
we
ha ve
little
information about the other side
of the border. Usually there is not
much information about archaeological monuments in China. It
seems that they are hiding their
discoveries. Therefore I can’t tell
whether they either have or do not
have similar monuments. When we
look from Tavan Tolgoi to the
south, there is no mountain, it is
all steppe — as we say in
Mongolian, a mirror. If there are
no mountains, rocks or stones,
people can’t find materials for
burials. Stones are the most
important material for funerals;
therefore I think there are not
many tombs. To the west and east
of Tavan Tolgoi there is a series of
hills with lots of rocks. That area
is very good place for burials. Also
there is a marble portrait of a king
and a queen in Tavan Tolgoi. Those
tombs could be related to this
portrait.
totally different from Turkic
tombstones. Dr. Bayaraa explained
that these stones belong to the
Mongolian period.
Could you tell us more about this
marble stone portrait? When was
it done? Have scholars studied it?
So many gold artifacts were found
from this area. Is there a high
possibility that those tombs are
related to the stone portraits?
The stone portrait of a king and a
queen from Tavan Tolgoi were
published in a book a long time
ago. During the 1920s, the Russian
scholar, V. A. Kazakevich, studied
it. The Mongolian scholar, Bayaraa,
also thoroughly studied it. He
wrote a book called A Stone
Portrait of Eastern Mongolia and
defended his Ph.D. on this topic.
In this book Dr. Bayaraa wrote that
the ‘King and Queen from Eastern
Mongolia are from the thirteenth
century; these were Chingis Khan’s
famous kings.’
You found thirteenth-century
artifacts in the tombs near this
stone portrait. That means that
you proved Dr. Bayaraa’s thesis.
You are saying that I proved it.
However, I can’ t claim that.
because we did not prove that this
portrait is related to those tombs.
There are two more tombs
alongside the stone portrait. After
excavating those tombs we can
prove whether the Tavan Tolgoi
artifacts are related to the portrait
or not.
Why haven’t you excavated these
two tombs yet?
We are planning to excavate them
in 2006. After this excavation we
can tell whether the tombs and the
portrait are from same period.
How big are these portraits? Are
they tombstones or carved on
stones? Are they different from
Turkish era tombstones?
The eastern Mongolian stone
portrait is a tombstone that has a
picture of a sitting man — his
whole face and clothes are carved
in the stone. It is broken, and the
head is cut from the body. It is
It could be. The tombs beside the
king and the queen had been dug
before. Even though they have
been looted we hope there will be
some discoveries. Those discoveries will tell us many things.
Were there any books? If there
were any sutras found, that could
be very interesting.
No. We did not find any bookrelated items. But all of these
monuments are ‘books’ themselves.
In the young woman’s burial you
found some red-brownish powder.
This woman seems to be a beloved
princess of an important khan.
Could this powder help establish
her genealogy?
Maybe this was a treasured
medicine. We haven’t determined
the chemical ingredients of this
powder.
You told me that you found a
woman’s shoe. In which tomb did
you find it? In the rich woman’s
tomb or a poorer person’s tomb?
This year’s excavation gave us very
interesting information. We found
some more of the same type of
tombs in Asga sum, Sukhbaatar
aimag, which is located 200 km to
the north of Tavan Tolgoi. The place
name is Sharga Mountain. The
external structure of the tombs is
the same as in the Tavan Tolgoi
tombs. We found similar gold items
there. We also found a woman’s
shoe which has a beautiful leather
cover with patterns. We conserving
it and working to restore it.
How many tombs did you excavate
in Sharga Mountain?
59
We excavated three tombs and
made various discoveries. Some of
them are a little different from the
Tavan Tolgoi discoveries. We found
there a sheep marrowbone.
Mongols use marrows for specially
esteemed occasions. During the
lunar new year’s celebrations, we
put out marrow for offerings. This
discovery will tell us much about
Mongolian customs.
Do the gold artifacts from Sharga
Mountain have different designs
from the Tavan Tolgoi ones?
There is no big difference. We
found a gold decoration from
Sharga Mountain which was very
similar to the hat decoration found
at Tavan Tolgoi. That hat
decoration was a little different
from previous gold crowns. It has
a heart-shaped turquoise inlay on
all four sides. It has many different
patterns. Even though these
artifacts were found 200 km from
each other, they are very similar.
One could even say that the same
smith made them. So, those items
surely belong to same period.
We have been looking for Chingisid
tombs in the Khentii Mountain
range for a long time, but did we
find them in Sukhbaatar aimag?
These tombs are definitely related
to the Chingisids. Or very close to
Chingis Khan or some later
descendants. Perhaps they are not
the direct descendants of Chingis
Khan. Anyway, they were people
who worshiped and honored
Chingis Khan’s white falcon.
When the Mongolian Great Khan
period ended, most khans lived
behind the Great Wall. And many
of them lived in today’s Sukhbaatar and Dornod aimags.
Therefore these tombs could be
related to the southern Yuan
Dynasty. The most important proof
of this theory is that these artifacts
are related to the spread of
Hinayana Buddhism. These golden
artifacts could be related to Chingis
Khan and his descendants.
Therefore I think these tombs
belong to the later period of the
Great Mongol Empire. What do you
think?
I agree with you 100 percent. Dr.
Bayaraa studied the tombstones in
eastern Mongolia and hypothesized
that they are from Qubilai’s period.
This might be true. Many khans
were influenced by the culture to
the east and brought silk and other
materials from there. These
monuments tell us about the
cultural relations that developed at
this time. So, those could be the
tombs of lesser khans, perhaps
Qubilai’s descendants.
Because I am interested in
Mongolian anthropology, I have a
good collection of materials on
Mongolian anthropology and
traditional culture. I search for
materials that are published
abroad about Mongolian culture. I
have seen many artifacts with
different designs, shapes and
patterns. The monuments that you
found are more skilfully decorated
than they are. I think your
discoveries can change Mongolian
anthropology and archaeology.
The young woman’s saddle is
simply wonderful and incomparable. I wish you success in your
studies. Your book will surprise the
whole world. Thank you very
much.
Translated by M. Saruul-Erdene
from the original published in the
Zamdaan Journal 23 (2005).
News about Collections
The August Hermann Francke and Hans
Körber Collection: Archaeological Finds
from Khotan in the Munich State Museum
of Ethnography
Ulf Jäger
Gronau-Epe/Westfalen (Germany)
Unknown to a larger public there
is a significant collection of
archaeological finds from Khotan
in the State Museum of
Ethnography in Munich, Germany.
It is the third largest collection of
archaeological objects in Germany
from Eastern Central Asia (Xinjiang
Autonomous Region, China). The
largest is the Turfan Collection of
the Königlich-Preussische TurfanExpeditionen (1902 –1914),
brought together by the German
ethnographers and archaeologists
Albert Grünwedel and Albert von
LeCoq and now housed in the
Museum für Indische Kunst in
Berlin. Grünwedel and von LeCoq
mainly worked at sites on the
northern route of the Silk Roads
between Kumtura, Kucha and
Turfan itself. The second largest
collection of such finds is the Emil
Trinkler Collection in the ÜberseeMuseum, Bremen, collected on the
southern Silk Road at Khotan in
1928 by the German geographer
Emil Trinkler. Unlike the FranckeKörber Collection, the other two
have widely been studied and
published (see References).
The Protestant missionary and
tibetologist August Hermann
Francke (1870–1930) and the
sinologist Hans Körber assembled
their collection in 1914, shortly
before the outbreak of World War
I. Both were sent out by the
German
indologist
Lucian
Scherman, then the leading
Director of the Königlich
Bayerisches
Museum
für
Ethnographie in Munich. The
vicissitudes of the War and the
subsequent fate of all three men
help to explain why the collection
60
was never properly catalogued and
published.
Dr. Francke was a well-known
tibetologist who had previously
worked for the Archaeological
Survey of India in Ladakh and
published two volumes on his
research there. He also contributed
transcriptions and translations of
Tibetan manuscripts to Sir Marc
Aurel Stein’s Ancient Khotan of
1907. Probably this was the reason
Lucian Scherman chose him to
collect archaeological objects in the
Fig. 1. Sherd of a dark-green hardglazed jar showing the head of a camel.
Yotkan, near Khotan, 6th-7th c. CE. Cat.
no. FK 249. Photo by S. AutrumMulzer, Negative No. 18213, copyright
©
Staatliches
Museum
für
Völkerkunde, München, 2006.
Fig. 2. Head of a demon. Stucco.
Khotan oasis, 3rd-4th c. CE. Cat. No.
FK 213. Photo by S. Autrum-Mulzer,
Negative No. 19094, copyright ©
Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde,
München, 2006.
Khotan oasis for the Munich
Museum of Ethnography. It seems
likely that the Munich Khotan
Collection was to be a Bavarian
answer to the Prussian Turfan
Collections at Berlin. The question
is worth further study.
Francke and Körber collected all
their finds in the antique markets
of Khotan and from Chinese
officials there; only a very few
items were excavated by them
personally. So the provenance of
every piece in their collections for
the most part can be established
only on the basis of the information
provided by the sellers or the
Chinsese officials. Since the
collection of the material predated
World War I by only two months,
the two scholars temporarily
stored their collections at the
Swedish missionary residence in
Kashgar (Kashi). The intention was
to ship their carefully packed finds
home via the railways in Russian
Turkestan.
The two scholars attempted
themselves to return to Germany
via the normal caravan route
south, across the Karakorum Pass
to Ladakh and British India.
However, the British arrested them
as citizens of Imperial Germany
and brought them as POWs to
Ahmednagar (Maharashtra State).
As soon as they had reached
Ahmednagar, both men engaged
in correspondence with Lucian
Scherman in Munich, in particular
with regard to the issue of how to
obtain their Khotanese collection
from Kashgar and send it home.
The
correspondence
with
Scherman fills two large files in the
archives of the State Museum of
Ethnography in Munich. It took
until 1928 with the help of official
German diplomacy for the
collection to arrive in Munich, some
14 years after it had first been
obtained!
Francke was able to leave the
British Indian POW camp at
Ahmednagar and return to
Germany in late 1917, but then
was sent off to the front in the
Balkans where he was again
captured and put this time in a
Serbian POW camp. He never
would regain his health after the
War. He was appointed Professor
in Tibetology at the University of
Berlin in 1925, and died there
unexpectedly on February 16 th
1930, at age 59.
collection but was prevented from
completing the work due to his
teaching and his research in
Iranian studies. Although by then
he had retired, in 2003 Dr. Gropp
proposed that I should take on the
cataloguing project, for which my
graduate training provided
appropriate background. This
suggestion, to which I readily
agreed, was endorsed by the
leading Director of the museum,
Dr. Claudius C. Müller and the
Curator of its Department of
Central and East Asian Art, Dr.
Bruno J. Richtsfeld.
The project should result
eventually in a monograph on the
collection’s history, to be published
in the series Beihefte des
Staatlichen Museums für Völkerkunde München. To date approximately 85% of the planned
chapter on the history of the 1914
expedition to Khotan is complete.
Some additional information is
needed, especially on Dr. Francke’s
contacts with Profs. Grünwedel and
von LeCoq and with Sir Marc Aurel
Soon after the Nazi takeover of
the German government, in 1933
Lucian Scherman had to leave his
job as the leading Director of the
State Museum of Ethnography in
Munich because he was of Jewish
descent. He left Germany for
Boston (USA) late in 1939 and died
there in 1947.
The Francke-Körber Collection
has been housed since its
acquisition in the Department of
Central and East Asian Art at the
State Museum of Ethnography,
Munich. In the beginning of the
1980s the well-known German
iranist Gerd Gropp from Hamburg
University rediscovered the
material. In 1974 Dr.Gropp had
published the Trinkler Collection in
the Übersee-Museum, Bremen. He
began to catalogue the Munich
61
Fig. 3. Standing Buddha. Oasis of
Hanguya near Khotan, late 4th-6th c.
CE. Stucco. Cat. No. FK 547. Photo by
S. Autrum-Mulzer, Negative No.
18212, copyright © Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde, München, 2006.
Stein, which may have involved
planning for another expedition to
Khotan.
In December 2005 I was able
to organize the Francke-Körber
Collection according to modern
principles. The ca. 2000 archaeological finds have been arranged
in more than a dozen categories,
which include: fine Yotkanceramics, subdivided into smaller
groups such as ornamented
sherds, handles in certain animalforms, the well-known monkeys
and camels, etc. (Fig. 1);
household ceramics; imported
ceramics; china; lamps and
incense-burners;
spinningweights; geological specimens of
ores and stones for jewelry; carved
statuettes of semi-precious stones
and jade (nephrit); seals and gems
in stone and metal; objects made
of marine shells and mother-ofpearl; playing-cubes; buddhist
terracottas; buddhist stuccos (Figs.
2, 3); and coins (Kushan, SinoKharoshthi, wushu coins, other
Chinese coins from the Han to Ming
Dynasties, early islamic coins).
While comparative analysis has
only begun, the first results of it
are interesting. For example, there
are links between the ceramics of
Khotan in the collection and their
analogues in locations such as
Bactria, the buddhist complex of
Kara Tepe (Uzbekistan) and even
early medieval Sogdia. Some
pieces, such as certain miniature
vessels made of terracotta and
metal, are similar to ones found in
the Northern Caucasus, for
example in the tombs of
Moshchevaia Balka. Certain of the
bronze objects which are possibly
belt ornaments can be found from
the Ordos to Western Turkestan.
This can be explained by the
influence of nomadic invaders in
Khotan in pre-islamic times. Such
comparative analysis will be
extended to include new finds from
Xinjiang.
The manuscripts of the
Francke-Körber Collection fill two
large files in the museum’s archive
and include buddhist texts as well
as other private and official
documents, in Sanskrit, Chinese
and Tibetan. They will be sent to
experts of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der
Wissenschaften in Berlin for
modern philological and historical
analysis.
Completion of this cataloguing
and the publication project is
contingent on the author ’s
receiving funding, since the work
currently is incidental to his
employment in a non-academic
field. He has applied to the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG) in Bonn; any other support
which may be forthcoming will
advance international scholarship
on the ancient history and culture
of the Silk Roads.
About the Author
Ulf Jäger was educated at the
Universities of Münster/Westfalen
and
at
Freiburg/Breisgau,
Germany. He received his Ph D.in
2003 at Münster University in
Archaeology and Ancient History.
His dissertation, “Horsemen,
Mounted Warriors, and Horse
Nomads between the Rhineland
and Korea: On the Late Antique
Riding Culture between East and
West in the 4th-8th Centuries CE.
A Contribution to the Synthesis of
Ancient History and Archaeology,”
has been published in German in
the series Beiträge zur Ur- und
Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas
(Weissbach; Langenweissbach:
Beier & Beran, 2006). His
specialization is the archaeology
and cultural history of pre-islamic
Central Asia. He may be contacted
either by e-mail <[email protected]> or at his homeaddress: Dr.phil.des Ulf Jäger,
Bergstrasse 8, D-48599 GronauEpe/Westfalen, Germany.
References
A. On the Königlich Preussische
Turfan-Expeditionen and their finds
62
on the northern route of the Silk
Road in the Tarim Basin:
Albert Grünwedel. Bericht über
archäologische Arbeiten in
Idikutschari und Umgebung im
Winter 1902-1903. München,
1906.
Albert Grünwedel. Altbuddhistische
Kultstätten in ChinesischTurkistan. Berlin, 1912.
Albert Grünwedel. Alt-Kutscha.
Berlin, 1920.
Albert von LeCoq. Chotscho.
Facsimile-Wiedergaben
der
wichtigsten Funde der 1. Kgl.
Preuss. Expedition nach Turfan in
Ostturkistan. Berlin, 1913 (repr.,
Graz, 1979).
Albert
von
LeCoq.
Die
buddhistische Spätantike in
Mittelasien. 7 vols. Berlin, 1922–
1933 (repr., Graz 1973–1975).
Albert von LeCoq. Bilderatlas zur
Kunst und Kulturgeschichte
Mittelasiens. Leipzig, 1925 (repr.,
Graz, 1977 ).
Albert von LeCoq. Auf Hellas
Spuren in Ostturkistan. Berichte
und Abenteuer der II. und III.
Deutschen Turfan Expeditionen.
Leipzig, 1926 (repr., Graz, 1974).
English tr. as: Buried Treasures of
Chinese Turkestan: An Account of
the Activities and Adventures of
the Second and Third German
Turfan Expeditions. London, 1928;
repr., 1985.
Albert von LeCoq. Von Land und
Leuten in Ostturkistan. Berichte
und Abenteuer der 4. Deutschen
Turfan Expeditionen. Leipzig,
1926.
Ernst Waldschmidt. Gandhara.
Kutscha. Turfan. Eine Einführung
in die Frühmittelalterliche Kunst
Zentralasiens. Leipzig 1925.
Peter Hopkirk. Foreign Devils on
the Silk Road: The Search for the
Lost Cities and Treasures of
Chinese Central Asia. London;
Amherst, Mass., 1980. Chs. 8, 9.
[Herbert Härtel and Marianne
Yaldiz.] Along the Ancient Silk
Routes. Central Asian Art from the
West Berlin State Museums. An
exhibition lent by the Museum für
Indische Kunst, Staatliche Museen
Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin,
Federal Republic of Germany. New
York, 1982.
Marianne Yaldiz. Archäologie und
Kunstgeschichte ChinesischZentralasiens (Xinjiang). Handbuch der Orientalistik. Siebente
Abteilung: Kunst und Kultur; Ed.
J. Stargardt. Dritter Band:
Innerasien. Zweiter Abschnitt.
Leiden etc., 1987.
B. About the Emil Trinkler
Collection from Khotan in the
Übersee-Museum, Bremen:
Gerd Gropp. Archäologische Funde
aus Khotan/Chinesisch-Ostturk-
estan. Die Trinkler-Sammlung im
Übersee-Museum zu Bremen.
Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der
Deutschen Zentralasien-Expedition
1927/28. Teil 3. Monographien der
Wittheit zu Bremen No.11.
Bremen, 1974.
C. About August Hermann Francke
and his works on the Silk Roads:
A[ugust] H[ermann] Francke and
L.D. Barnett. “Appendix B: Tibetan
manuscripts
and
Sgrafitti
discovered by Dr. M. A. Stein at
Endere.” In: M.Aurel Stein. Ancient
Khotan. 3 vols. Oxford 1907 (Repr.
New York 1975; Delhi, 1981), Vol.
2, pp.548-569.
A[ugust] H[ermann] Francke.
Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Pt. 1
(Chronicles of Ladakh). Calcutta,
1914; Pt. 2 Calcutta, 1926 (repr.
New Delhi, 1972). Archaeological
Survey of India. New Imperial
Series.
A[ugust] H[ermann] Francke.
Durch Zentralasien in die indische
Gefangenschaft. Herrenhuth,
1921.
H. Walravens and M.Taube, eds.
August Hermann Francke und die
West-Himalaya-Mission
der
Herrenhuther Brüdergemeinde.
Eine Bibliographie mit Standortnachweisen der tibetischen
Drucke. Mit einem Beitrag von
Michael Hahn. Verzeichnis der
Orientalischen Handschriften in
Deutschland. Supplement. Volume
34. Stuttgart, 1992.
D. Biography of Lucian Scherman:
U. Weigelt. Lucian Scherman
(1864–1946) und das Münchner
Museum
für
Völkerkunde.
Münchner
Beiträge
zur
Völkerkunde. Beiheft 2. München,
2003. Also, the author ’s
dissertation, München, 2002.
Digital Collections: New Additions to Silk Road Seattle
Thanks to the support of the Silkroad Foundation, the work of Lance Jenott and valuable contributions of material by
others, some significant new additions have been made to the collection of educational resources available through the
Internet on the website Silk Road Seattle. Those already familiar with the site might note that it has a new URL or
electronic address: <http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad>. Should you still have the old address bookmarked in
your browser, it will take you automatically to the new one. Here are highlights of the new material, which can also be
readily accessed from the New Additions button on our opening page:
•
A new section on Silk Road Geography with an introductory essay and a set of image galleries featuring landscapes
of Eurasia.
•
Under “Museum Collections>Featured Museums,” the addition of hundreds of new images. Most of the images have
captions which include where possible references to published catalogues and further information. The additions
are for the following museums:
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
* Over 975 images, a good many being recent color photographs, among them: an excellent
selection of the early Inner Asian nomad imaterials, especially from the Pazyryk burials, an extensive
collection of Sasanian silver, Islamic ceramics and much more.
* We have digitized and posted the largest part of the images in Smirnov’s magnificent 1909
portfolio, Eastern Silver (Vostochnoe serebro).
* images and a pdf file of the complete English text from Boris Marshak’s Sogdian Silver (Sogdiiskoe
serebro) (1971).
*images and a pdf file of the complete text of Camilla Trever, Excavations in Northern Mongolia
(1924-1925) (1932) on the first Noin Ula excavations.
State Historical Museum, Moscow.
Golden Horde (Mongol) material.
Photographs include many of early Central Asian material and of
Extensive additions to our previously posted collection of images from the National Museum of Mongolian
History, Ulaanbaatar. The selection includes much Xiongnu material, quite a few images of the recentlyexcavated Bilge Qaghan treasure, and a substantial collection from the period of the Mongol Empire.
63
Choijin Lama Museum, Ulaanbaatar. Images of the outstanding collection of Mongolian Buddhist ritual
objects and art.
•
In our section on Silk Road Cities, a number of new, illustrated web essays and image sets, most of them contributed
by Profs. Frank Harold and Florian Schwarz:
The Alborz and the Assassin Castles, Iran
Almaliq, Xinjiang
Balkh and Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan
Bam, Iran
Bamiyan, Afghanistan
Herat, Afghanistan
Mashad and the Shrine of Imam Reza, Iran
Shahr-i-Sabz (Kesh), Uzbekistan
Yazd, Iran
Additions to images of Bukhara and Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Images of Turkmenistan
•
In our section on “Traditional Culture,” a slide show of erecting a Ger (Yurt) in Mongolia, images from 2005.
•
Historical Texts:
*The Kharosthi Documents from Chinese Turkestan. The complete text of Burrow’s translations of the
documents from Niya in the Stein Collection, courtesy of the Royal Asiatic Society.
*Accounts of Chinese Travelers to Central Asia in the Mongol era (from Bretschneider’s classic compendium):
1. Yeh-lu Ch’u t’sai (Si Yu Lu)
2. Wu-ku-sun Chung tuan (Pei Shi Ki)
3. Ch’ang Ch’un
* The Travels of John Marignolli, 1338-1353 — a Franciscan sent as papal legate to the Mongol Emperor of
China.
Please remember that we are always interested in contributions of text or images, since this is an ongoing project with
horizons as broad as the Silk Roads were long. Contact Daniel Waugh <[email protected]> with suggestions
and corrections.
Bronze mirror fragments excavated in Feature 109 at the Tamir 1 site. Drawing © David E. Purcell 2006.
64

From the Editor - Silkroad Foundation

Transcription

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